photo by: John Young

Free State High players celebrate in the foreground after defeating crosstown rival Lawrence High on Tuesday evening at LHS.

One of the biggest strengths for Free State High’s volleyball team, both figuratively and literally, is height at the net.

It’s a tall task for opponents to hit clear shots over the net. It’s equally as hard to defend against Free State’s heavy hitters.

When the Firebirds trailed by five points in the second set of the City Showdown on Tuesday, the main message in their team’s huddle, trying to stop Lawrence High’s outside hitters, was to keep a disciplined block at the net.

The Firebirds responded by winning eight straight points — including four blocks from seniors Naomi Hickman and Payton Gannaway — and sweeping the City Showdown in the Jungle, 25-14, 25-21.

Along with the big blocks in the decisive, match-winning stretch, Gannaway and senior Natalie Clarke added kills on offense.

“It’s a huge difference when you have two people that are over six-foot that can block like that,” junior outside hitter Cameryn Thomas said. “It’s amazing.”

With two big student sections on opposite ends of Lawrence’s gymnasium, the Firebirds (7-4, ranked No. 9 in Class 6A) showed no signs of nerves and won seven of the first nine points in the first set.

They were led by a balanced offensive attack from Naomi and Rachel Hickman and Gannaway, helped by setters Jenalee Dickson and Mya Gleason.

The Lions (5-10) committed eight attacking errors in the opening set and only had six kills — three from senior Amelia Dunlap.

“I think the first set, we had a lot of adrenaline building,” Dunlap said. “We didn’t really focus that adrenaline toward the game. We made a lot of mistakes in the first (set). But the second (set), we got our heads together and really had that drive to win, but it didn’t work out.”

At the start of the second set, the Lions found an offensive rhythm with kills from Dunlap, junior Brooke Wroten, sophomore Baylee Unruh and junior Katelyn Mask on passes from setters Laurel Bird and Laura Willoughby. Dunlap said they worked on tooling the block in practice — forcing overaggressive blocks to ricochet the ball out of bounds.

Even after Thomas hit back-to-back kills, which appeared to give the Firebirds momentum, the Lions took a 21-16 lead in the second set after two aces from Mask.

“Less unforced errors, more aggressive all around,” LHS coach Stephanie Magnuson said of Lawrence’s improved play in the second set.

When the Lions looked on the verge of forcing a third set, with their student section at a full roar, the Firebirds refocused on defense and showed how dangerous their height can be for opposing attacks.

“We just got rolling,” said 6-foot-4 middle hitter Naomi Hickman, who led with seven kills and five blocks. Thomas added three kills and a team-best 13 digs while the 6-1 Gannaway had three kills and four blocks.

Prior to the City Showdown, both schools lost to Olathe Northwest (9-3, No. 6 in 6A) in their opening matches of the LHS triangular, which is all a part of Sunflower League play.

The Firebirds, who had trouble making passes out of their serve receive defense, lost 25-11, 25-22.

Olathe Northwest beat Lawrence, 25-19, 25-18.

“We were just not ready to play a ball. Period,” Hoffsommer said. “Just not making smart plays right off of the start. Then with Lawrence High, it was like we were looking at our block, hitting around it, paying attention to where the hitters were going. Just much more on the ball.”

The Firebirds will play in a triangular at Topeka Seaman at 5 p.m. today.