Topeka ? Lawrence High’s volleyball team will open play at the Class 6A state tournament at 3:30 p.m. today with a match against top-seeded Washburn Rural (34-4).

The Lions (22-16) enter the tournament as the No. 8 seed and also will face No. 4 Blue Valley West (29-10) at 6:30 p.m. and No. 5 Maize (30-12) at 8:30 p.m. in pool play.

The top two teams in the Lions’ Pool A will advance to Saturday’s semifinals, where they’ll battle with the top two teams from Pool B — No. 2 Manhattan (34-4), No. 3 Olathe South (30-4), No. 6 Wichita Northwest (27-13) and No. 7 Blue Valley North (25-14) — for the state title.

During the regular season, Lawrence High faced every team at state except for Wichita Northwest.

LHS qualified for state last weekend at sub-state with victories against Olathe East and Olathe Northwest. The Lions are making their second consecutive trip to the state tournament.

All matches will be played at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.