photo by: Courtesy of Aaron Clark/Free State High School

Free State senior Maya Lee (left) and sophomore Cami Lee pose with their medals at the Class 6A state tennis championship in Junction City on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.

The Free State sister duo of senior Maya Lee and sophomore Cami Lee left their mark with two top 10 finishes at the Class 6A state tennis championships over the weekend in Junction City.

Overall, the Lee sisters led FSHS to a seventh-place team finish at state.

The elder Lee finished fifth overall in singles, defeating Blue Valley North West freshman Dominique Pitchlyn in the fifth-place championship, earning All-State honors in the process.

The younger Lee battled her way to the fifth-place quarterfinal, but dropped the match to her older sister, settling for a ninth-place finish.

“I got lucky at regionals and was hoping I wouldn’t have to play (Cami) at state,” Maya Lee said. “We were trying not to play each other and we had to go home thinking about it … When it came, we’ve played together all season so we knew how it was going to go down.”

This season, Cami missed multiple weeks nursing a knee injury. Watching her younger sister return to the varsity stage, Maya said she channeled that comeback into what’d be one of the final matches of her high school career.

“That was probably my motivation,” Maya Lee said. “She’s got two more years and this was my last chance at it … I’ve watched her this season and (she’s) come back into tennis and she’s developing really quickly. After the state tournament, she seems as motivated as ever.”

This season, the Lee sisters led the way for the Firebirds. Maya finished her high school career with a 28-8 record with All-Sunflower League honors during her senior season. Cami finished her sophomore campaign 30-8 across a competitive Sunflower League, making her best case for All-Area honors yet.

While Cami is slated to continue playing tennis at FSHS, Maya is continuing her search to play tennis at the Division III level and pursue further education after graduation this spring.

Soccer Roundup

The Free State boys soccer team knocked off defending 6A champion Shawnee-Mill Valley 2-0 at home on Monday night.

Sophomore Eli Stone had a big night for the Firebirds (8-5-0), finding the net twice throughout the evening. The FSHS goalkeeper duo of senior Carter Stevenson and junior Yusef Iskandrani kept the Jaguars (7-6-1) quiet all night long for the shutout.

Over the weekend, the Lawrence High boys soccer team rebounded from last week’s loss in the City Showdown with a 2-1 victory in double overtime at Shawnee Mission South on Saturday.

Down a goal in the second half, sophomore Patrick Sandefur tied the match 1-1 in the second half and, ultimately, punched in the game-winning score to send LHS (8-6-0) past the Raiders (4-8-2) at home.

Next up, FSHS is scheduled to play Shawnee Mission Northwest (7-7-0) on Tuesday and closes its regular season vs. Olathe North (2-12-0) at home on Thursday. LHS is set to play Shawnee Mission East (11-3-0) on Tuesday and finishes its regular season at home vs. Olathe South (6-7-0) on Thursday.

FSHS, LHS volleyball off to substate Saturday

The Class 6A substate volleyball bracket is set, with both Free State and Lawrence High slated to begin their postseason journeys on Saturday.

In the Liberal bracket, 14-seed FSHS (8-24) will challenge 3-seed Wichita North (20-12) at W-North for a seat in the substate championship match. With a win, the Firebirds would meet the winner of 6-seed Maize (16-18) and 11-seed Liberal (9-21) shortly after.

In the Shawnee Mission Northwest bracket, 11-seed LHS (15-17) takes on 6-seed Shawnee Mission East (22-11) at Olathe Northwest at 3 p.m. for a seat in the substate championship match.

With a win, the Lions would meet the winner of 3-seed Olathe Northwest (28-5) and 14-seed Kansas City-Wyandotte (6-12) at 4 p.m.

For complete 6A-1A state volleyball brackets, visit kshsaa.org.

Former LHS kicker Glasgow earns Big Sky special teams honors vs. Idaho

Lawrence High alum and Montana starting placekicker Grant Glasgow received Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors this weekend after leading the Grizzlies (6-1) past FCS rival Idaho (5-2) on the road Saturday.

Glasgow, a member of the 2021 LHS graduating class, drained three consecutive field goals against the Vandals in the victory, getting started with a season-best 44-yard boot sending Montana ahead 3-0 in the first quarter. Glasgow’s third field goal, another 44-yarder scored early in the fourth quarter, proved enough to stave off a late two-score comeback by Idaho.

This season, Glasgow is 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the field for 40 points.