photo by: Courtesy of Eudora Athletics

The Eudora volleyball team poses with the 4A substate title trophy after defeating rival Baldwin in the championship match. The Cardinals (23-8) will remain a No. 4 seed when they meet 5-seed Andale in the first round of the state tournament this weekend in Hutchinson.

In a weekend full of postseason volleyball, No. 4 seed Eudora emerged as the sole area squad worthy of a substate title, besting rival and No. 5 seed Baldwin 2-0 (25-11, 25-22) in the 4A substate championship on Saturday in Eudora.

The day began with the Cardinals (23-8) rolling by No. 13 Fort Scott in the semifinal round, followed by a close second semifinal between the Bulldogs (26-11) and Ottawa (14-20) that saw Baldwin come out on top – aligning the stars for the two area schools to meet with a ticket to the state tournament on the line.

In the first set, the Cardinals maintained their breakneck pace from the semifinal and flew to a 25-11 victory to begin the championship round.

First-year Eudora head coach Brooke Hopper said her team entered the tournament ready to quash doubts about its potential after hitting a three-game losing skid in late September.

“We lost a few games that we really feel like we shouldn’t have,” Hopper said. “That was a turning point where they decided that’s how they didn’t want to feel after tournaments and games … I think we’re in a great position in this state tournament and the girls are ready to push and see what their ceiling is.”

In the second set, Baldwin slowed down that mojo and narrowed within just three points of the Cardinals in hopes of forcing a third set. Hopper credited seniors Rayah Foltz, Ellie Suber and junior Adalyn Hemphill with pulling together the substate victory.

Eudora, remaining a No. 4 seed, will meet No. 5 Andale (27-8) in the first round of the state tournament on Friday in Hutchinson.

LHS gymnastics crowned 6A state runner-up

The Lawrence High gymnastics team ended its season as the 6A state runner-up, just five points below champion Olathe North, at the state championship in Newton on Saturday. Also in competition, Free State finished sixth overall.

LHS finished the weekend with the best vaulting score (27.675) of all eight competing schools, setting the tone for a strong performance throughout the remainder of the tournament. The rest of the way, the Chesty Lions finished third in bars (24.200), fourth on the beam (25.825), and third on the floor (27.175) on their way to a second-place overall finish (104.875).

“I think the girls were very impressed with themselves,” first-year head coach Alexis Gonzales, who leads both local teams, said of LHS. “When they realized they’d done even better than (third) they were super proud of themselves. They came out and showed up when they needed to.”

FSHS finished the tournament seventh in the vault (26.600), seventh in bars (20.800), sixth on the beam (25.450) and sixth on the floor (25.300).

“(FSHS) has a younger and smaller team, so I have a good chunk of those girls coming back and I think they’ll perform far better next season,” Gonzales said. “I have to put a lot of props on them for welcoming me as a new coach and I understand what we’re doing is far different than what they were doing before.”

Free State, LHS volleyball seasons end at substate

The Free State and Lawrence High volleyball teams watched their hard-fought seasons come to an end at the 6A substate tournaments in Liberal and Shawnee, respectively, on Saturday.

In the west bracket, the 14th-seeded Firebirds (9-25) overcame No. 3 Wichita North (20-13) through two sets (25-9, 25-20) for a shot at sixth-seeded Maize (18-18) in hopes of a state berth.

FSHS battled hard but dropped both sets (25-18, 25-16) to the Eagles in what Firebirds head coach Jayme Savage considered her group’s grittiest showing of the season.

“This group was relentless,” Savage said. “They show up every day and they work hard. The culture and dynamic of this team was outstanding … Their heads were always held high and they never let the win-loss record show what this group was about.”

In the east bracket, No. 6 Shawnee Mission East (23-12) outmatched the No. 11 Chesty Lions (15-18) through two sets (25-17, 25-11) to end LHS’ season in the semifinal round.

For Lions’ head coach Stephanie Scarbrough, this year’s short postseason run hardly defines her group’s ceiling.

“It wasn’t our day and wasn’t how we wanted it to end,” Scarbrough said. “It seems to go by slowly at the moment and is gone in a blink … I told them to think about this season and how we’re going to get their year on the banner.”

Free State XC comes out big at 6A regional

The Free State cross-country team left the 6A regional championship in Wichita with plenty of hardware on Saturday.

The boys’ team, finishing first overall among nine teams, featured four runners — seniors Blake Wohler (1st, 15:46.70), Ryan Whittlesey (4th, 16:51.60), Zach Hansen Terry (8th, 16:57.60) and sophomore Jonah Frye (10th, 16:58.80) — in the top 10 of Saturday’s 5,000-meter finale.

Bringing up the rear for the Firebirds were senior Cristian Wills (11th, 17:02.90) and junior Grant Lichauer (35th, 18:35.30).

Frye, Hansen Terry, senior Jake Hedges, senior Nicholas Johnson, Lichauer, senior Jake Loos, senior Evan Hanna, junior Mackie Dylan, Whittlesey, Wills and Wohler all qualified for the 6A state championship.

FSHS head coach Steve Heffernan felt his athletes didn’t let their late-season struggles hold them back on race day.

“They’ve shown that they’re dealing with adversity really well,” Heffernan said. “They kind of knew coming into this meet knowing they might not be at full speed … This group started to really run for each other around the second meet of the season.”

In the girls’ 5,000-meter race, FSHS finished fourth overall out of seven teams with juniors Brylee Burns (7th, 20:09.30) and Cayman Barnes (8th, 20:12.30) leading the charge. Junior Greta Barnett’s 17th-place individual finish (21:01.70) padded the walls of FSHS’ finish.

Burns and Barnes each qualified for the 6A state championship.

“Our girls have battled injuries all year but they competed at the highest level they could, and they saw what could happen,” Heffernan said.

Rounding out the girls’ race for the Firebirds were junior Ella Cormaney (22nd, 21:23.40), freshman Helena Mattes (28th, 21:50.30), sophomore Madison Whitney (32nd, 22:34.30) and Emery Frye (44th, 25:02.20).

FSHS next turns to the 6A state championship at Rim Rock Farm on Saturday.

FSHS, LHS soccer begin playoff race Tuesday

The Free State and Lawrence High boys soccer teams will begin their postseason runs on Tuesday night, with hopes of landing a spot in the 6A substate championship on Thursday.

In the west bracket, No. 7 seed FSHS (9-5-1) hosts 10th-seeded Manhattan (7-8-1) with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. With a win, the Firebirds will meet the winner of No. 2 Topeka-Washburn Rural (15-1-0) and No. 15 Wichita-Haysville Campus/Clearwater (5-11-0) on Thursday.

In the east bracket, ninth-seeded LHS (8-8-0) challenges eighth-seeded Shawnee-Mill Valley (8-7-1) on the road with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. With a win, the Chesty Lions will face the winner of No. 1 Shawnee Mission East (13-3-0) and No. 16 Shawnee Mission North (6-10-0) on Thursday.