By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Coming into the week, Hayden volleyball was 14-0 on the season and No.1-ranked in Class 4A.
But on Thursday in a triangular at Emporia, that long winning streak was snapped, with the Wildcats losing to Manhattan and Emporia.
Hayden sophomores Hailey Schmidtlein (22) and Blakely Walter (10) were named to the Seaman Invitational all-tournament team Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
The Wildcats were hoping to avenge those two losses in Saturday's Seaman Invitational, but to open pool play on Saturday, the defending Class 4A state champs, Bishop Miege (0-12), stunned Hayden in three sets, 25-21, 16-25, 26-24. The Stags also beat Hayden in pool play in the state tournament in 2024.
“The girls played hard. As coaches, if they play hard and stick together, that's all we can ask,” Hayden coach Corrinne McGreevy said. “Sometimes, you have to take a loss for what it is. They came out really good. Number 14, she was a stud. She was unstoppable.
"It’s one of those things, you have to brush it off, learn from it. We’re going to see them again, whether it’s Sub-State or State. That’s a great team, those are 50-50 games that go either way.”
Hayden then lost to Lansing in two sets, 25-14, 25-21, before picking up its first win of the day with a sweep over Spring Hill, 25-17, 25-16.
The Wildcats squared off with Maize South (16-1) in the quarterfinals match and that was a battle from both squads.
Hayden lost set one to the Mavericks and trailed 11-10 in set two. The Wildcats went on a little run, going up 13-11. Hayden would extend their lead to 19-14 off a kill from Mallory Tanking on the outside. The Mavs trimmed the deficit to 19-17 but then Avery Holthaus stopped the mimi run with a kill and Hayden led 20-17.
The Wildcats were up 21-17, Hailey Schmidtlein served, the Hayden starters and bench thought Schmidtlein got her serve in before the back row line, the officials called it out of bounds and shifted the momentum of the match. Maize South would knot the match at 21 and then eventually swept the Wildcats, 25-18, 25-23.
“Maize South is a really good team,” McGreevy said. “Like our team, they know how to stick together… it would boil down to they wanted it and we wanted it to and volleyball is a weird sport. It just boils down to points here, points there and sometimes momentum swings are huge.
"They have that lefty (Ava Stoughton) out there and lefties are hard to block. They got a couple of power swings that threw us off a little bit, but that’s just a part of volleyball. We still regrouped, we still battled and I’m really proud of how they played the whole day because this is a great tournament.”
Hayden's Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter were named to the all-tournament team.
McGreevy said this is a new week to attack their weaknesses.
“Short term memory, we talk a lot about that,” McGreevy said. “Monday and Tuesday are more of our work days… and we get after it and we’re well conditioned and that’s why we can outlast some of these teams through the day and night. I think what we’re really going to focus on this week is blocking and cleaning up the little things, getting to hip-to-hip and just being more disciplined.
"Servicing and back row play was awesome, our hitters were great, too, but we’re going to see big blocks and Maize South is a big blocking team and we have to learn to tool and listen to your teammates on where to hit the ball… some teams you can get away from powering through… we got to find a way to score a point and find a way to win.”
Seaman lost to Lee’s Summit, 27-25, 25-21, Maize South, 25-12, 25-15 and Bishop Carroll, 25-14, 25-19 in pool play and then lost to Lansing in their quarterfinal match, 25-16, 25-18.
MATCH RESULTS
Lee’s Summit def. Seaman, 27-25, 25-21; Maize South def. Seaman, 25-12, 25-15; Bishop Carroll def. Seaman, 25-14, 25-19; Lansing def. Seaman, 25-16, 25-18.
Bishop Miege def. Hayden, 25-21, 16-25, 26-24; Lansing def. Hayden, 25-14, 25-21; Hayden def. Spring Hill, 25-17, 25-16; Maize South def. Hayden, 25-18, 25-23.
