Season Preview: 5A Volleyball

There's no question at all about who the unrivaled powers in Class 5A volleyball truly are.

St. Thomas Aquinas and St. James Academy have combined for eight of the last nine championships – St. James winning five (2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018) and Aquinas three (2014, 2019, 2020) – not to mention seven runner-up finishes during that same span. The lone interruption to their ownership of the 5A crown was Shawnee Heights in 2016.

It's a huge mountain for any other program in Class 5A to climb. And nobody perhaps knows it better than Lansing.

While Aquinas and St. James have had a stranglehold on the 5A crown for nearly a decade, the Lions have been right there doing their best to loosen the grip. Starting in 2017, Lansing has positioned itself as the top challenger to the dominating duo.

The Lions took third in 2017, then again in 2018 and again in 2019. Last season, when Aquinas knocked off St. James in the quarterfinals of a revamped postseason, Lansing moved up to the runner-up spot, falling to Aquinas in the championship match.

"Coach Julie Slater really built this program to be competing at the highest level at all times," second-year Lion coach Lindsay Zych said of Lansing's rise to power under long-time coach Slater, who retired after the 2019 season ending a 35-year tenure. "It's an amazing culture that Coach Slater created here and I've just been able to add to it."

This season, Zych would love nothing more than to add the one missing piece to Lansing's increasingly impressive resume. A state championship.

It's something no team has ever done at Lansing with last year's runner-up finish the best state showing ever for the program. The Lions finished last season 27-4 after posting four straight 30-win seasons, a fifth straight hampered with COVID-19 protocols limiting the overall number of matches schools across Kansas could play last year.

But Zych fully knows that if Lansing wants to truly carry the same powerhouse feeling as Aquinas and St. James, it's something they have to accomplish.

"They've earned everything they've got," she said. "They're so talented with really great kids and really great coaches. They're really great programs.

"We're striving to be up there and have the same intimidation factor as an Aquinas or St. James. We're hoping to continue to rise to their occasion and be on their level and that's something that were trying to simulate every day in practice. Our girls like to rise to the occasion and most times they do. But sometimes the lights are too bright and the stage is too big and we've tensed up. That can be hard to simulate in practice – the jerseys on, the lights on and facing the best."

A year ago, many wondered just how the Lions would handle such pressure. Not only did the program lose Slater to retirement, but also graduated a stellar senior class of eight players that produced University of Kansas signees Caroline Crawford and Karli Schmidt.

Those question marks were a driving force for last year's success with a team that was made up largely of underclassmen.

"When Coach Slater left and we graduated eight big-time seniors, we just had the biggest chip on our shoulder," Zych said. "So many people doubted us and we turned all those doubters into believers. This caliber of our upperclassmen, they are in the gym all day every day working at what they need to in order to win every match. Sometimes I have to kick them out to get them out of there."

Led by first-team All-Class 5A selection Olivia Mae van der Werff, second-teamers Caitlin Bishop and Kamryn Farris and honorable mention choice Iyannah Jackson, the Lions not only maintained the level of success but set the stage for what Zych hopes is the big breakthrough this year.

Lansing graduated only two seniors off last year's roster, neither of whom played huge roles. With everyone back, expectations are extremely high for the program – maybe the highest they've ever been.

"They have extremely high volleyball IQs and they understand that every point is important," Zych said. "What we accented last year was knowing we'd be in high-pressure situations and how would we respond to it physically and mentally.

"We have nine returners so everyone knows what's coming from our kids. So our big focus is to get out of our comfort zone, mix things up a little bit and that's something we've been working on."

The biggest thing Zych's been working on, however, is mental. Clearly the Lions possess all the physical talent to hang with Aquinas and St. James.

The question facing them this season is can they handle the pressure that comes with trying to dethrone 5A's best. It's still a work in progress as Aquinas took a 25-17, 25-15 win over the Lions in Saturday's season opener.

"It's definitely a mental hurdle that we have to get over," Zych said. "Physically, we have all the tools and we're hoping to use them to the best of our ability. … I still watch that state championship match about once a week. Our nine returners have a big chip on their shoulder because we want to beat them. They definitely don't want to lose to them their senior year.

"It would be huge, huge for this program. To end their last year with a state title would just mean so much. They're ready. If we can get there, this group wants to be remembered as one of the best teams that Lansing's ever had. We've talked about what we need to do to strive to meet those expectations. It might end with a state championship and it might not. But we want to walk out knowing we gave it everything we had and put our best out there. At the end of the day we want our best to be better than their best. These girls have worked so hard for so long. It would be really special and really deserving for this group."

As the opener would suggest, Aquinas hasn't missed much of a beat despite graduating some key components off last year's state championship team. The Saints graduated Class 5A player of the year Caroline Bien, a four-time All-State selection who is also at Kansas, as well as outside hitter Tyler Cullor.

But Aquinas returns first-team All-5A outside hitter Ava Martin, who led the team in kills last year with 333, right side hitter Betsy Goodenow (honorable mention All-5A) and sophomore setters Sophia Bond and Kelsey Schenck, who stepped right in as freshmen a year ago.

St. James graduated three All-Class 5A performers, but returns standout sophomore outside hitter Ava Spachek (191 kills, HM All-5A) and both setters. The Thunder started this season with a bang as well, taking a 25-22, 25-21 straight set win over Class 6A contender Olathe Northwest at the St. James Slam, a volleyball showcase where Aquinas and Lansing also met.

Bishop Carroll took third at state last year and traditionally also is in the hunt. The Golden Eagles have several holes to fill, but routinely do just that.

Maize South also made the final four but like Carroll was hit hard by graduation. Seaman, Great Bend and Newton were sub-state champions a year ago as well.