By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden volleyball ended what, for the tradition-rich Wildcats, has been a lengthy state tournament drought Saturday at the Bueltel Activity Center, advancing to the Class 4A state tournament for the first time in five seasons with a 25-16, 25-14 win over Paola in the sub-state final.
Hayden celebrates its Class 4A sub-state volleyball championship on Saturday at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden celebrates a point in Saturday's Class 4A sub-state tournament at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The 29-10 Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in 4A by the Kansas Volleyball Association, will open their first state bid since winning their most recent state title in 2019 on Friday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena with three pool play matches. The top two finishers in both 4A pools will advance to Saturday's semifinals.
Hayden will be making its first trip to state under former Wildcat star Corrinne McGreevy.
"I felt really good about today,'' McGreevy said. "We had basically two weeks of practice and the girls practiced very solid, very clean and we were done practicing, though, and ready to compete.
"And they came out fired up and ready to rock. They played sharp and they were on a mission and they took care of business.''
Hayden opened its day with a 25-19, 25-13 semifinal win over Baldwin before advancing to meet Paola (22-13), which advanced with a 25-22, 25-20 win over Parsons.
The first set of the championship match was tight early, including an 8-8 tie, before a kill from freshman setter Blakely Walter put Hayden ahead to stay.
Hayden build a 24-15 lead on back-to-back kills from freshman Hailey Schmidlein before closing out the nine-point win.
After a 2-2 tie in the second set a Schmidtlein kill put the Wildcats ahead 3-2 and Hayden went on to take a 14-3 lead and went up 17-7 on another Schmidtlein kill and took a 20-10 advantage on a kill from senior Reagan McGivern.
The Wildcats took care of business the rest of the way, clinching the sub-state title on a Schmidtlein kill.
McGivern and Bella Reid are the lone seniors on a Hayden team that includes seven freshmen and McGivern said she was proud of the Wildcats' performance.
"I think this is one of the best volleyball games we've ever played,'' McGivern said. "Obviously we had a home advantage and that was really nice to have a huge support section, but we made it clear that nothing's given and it's do or die at this point.
"Each game's an opportunity for us to get better and I'm so excited to go to state. I've been to state, this is my fourth year now (three at Seaman, including a 5A title), and that experience I think helps our little freshmen.''
CLASS 4A SUB-STATE AT HAYDEN
Semifinals
Hayden def. Baldwin, 25-19, 25-13; Paola def. Parsons, 25-22, 25-20.
Championship
Hayden def. Paola, 25-16, 25-14.
