By Staff
LINDSBORG – On Tuesday, the Smoky Valley volleyball team closed out their 2022 regular season with a pair of straight set wins at home over Chapman and Nickerson.
With the two wins, the Lady Vikings put their season mark at 29-8 overall and 8-1 in league matches. Smoky Valley will play host to a Class 3A sub-state on Saturday where they will be the number one seed. They will open sub-state competition against number eight seed Larned who will enter the weekend with a 2-30 record.
In the first match on Tuesday, Smoky Valley dominated Chapman in straight sets 25-14, 25-12 as Maggie Ryals and Adrian Hazelwood led the offense with 10 and nine assists each. Hope Duncan led the Lady Vikings in both kills with eight and digs with seven while also recording a pair of service aces. Katja Blanchat contributed six kills and Avery Ahlstedt recorded five kills.
Battling Nickerson in the second match of the day, the Lady Vikings scored a 25-17 win in the first set before the Panthers gave them a real battle in the second set before Smoky Valley was able to get the final 26-24 victory and sweep of the matches for the day.
In the Nickerson match, Adrian Hazelwood dished out 22 assists while Hope Duncan recorded 11 kills and Katja Blanchat made eight digs to lead the Lady Vikings. Blanchat also recorded seven kills with Avery Ahlstedt getting six kills.
The Lady Vikings close out their regular season with some ranking stat leaders as Adrian Hazelwood has dished out 700 assists which ranks her number seven in the state over all classes and number four in Class 3A. Katja Blanchat has collected 70 blocks which is third in Class 3A and Hope Duncan is ranked in the top 10 in two categories in Class 3A, number six for recording 357 kills and number nine for making 357 digs.
(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)