Tonganoxie High volleyball stumbles against slew of ranked foes at De Soto
Tonganoxie volleyball has just a few more matches left before the postseason.
THS is 13-19 on the season after Saturday’s De Soto Spikefest and a Frontier League match Monday.
The Chieftains, who had played well in tournaments heading into Saturday’s invitational, had a rougher go at De Soto. THS went 0-4, dropping matches to Mill Valley, Eudora, Blue Valley West and Free State.
Tonganoxie was swept in three of the four matches Saturday against tough competition. Mill Valley is ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, while Blue Valley West and Free State are No. 4 and 7, respectively, in 6A.
Mill Valley (27-6) won, 25-12, 25-8, against THS, while BV West (24-7) won, 25-12, 25-13.
THS pushed Eudora (13-17) to three sets, but the Cardinals eventually pulled out the victory. Tonganoxie won the first set, 27-25, but Eudora responded with a 25-13 victory in the second set. The teams again had to play beyond 25 points, with Eudora eventually getting the 26-24 victory.
Free State (19-8) had the other 2-0 victory against Tonganoxie, winning 25-14 and 25-13.
Tonganoxie did have success earlier this past week. The Chieftains went 2-1, falling to Ottawa on Oct. 5 at home and then defeating Rock Creek and Jeff West on Thursday in Meriden.
Ottawa swept Tonganoxie in three sets in a Frontier League match, 25-23, 25-17, 25-16.
THS bounced back with a 2-1 victory against Rock Creek and then a 2-0 decision against Jeff West.
Tonganoxie defeated Rock Creek in the first match, 25-21, but the Mustangs (13-11) answered in the second set, winning 25-19. THS won the decisive third set, 25-22.
The Chieftains handled host Jeff West (1-20) in the other match, taking care of the Tigers, 25-8, 25-20.
Tonganoxie faced on Paola in the first Frontier League clash of the week Monday at home and then another Tuesday against Baldwin, also at home. At 23-3, the Bulldogs are the No. 3 team in 4A.
Paola (19-12) swept THS, 25-18, 25-22, 25-15.
The regular season wraps up next week with the home finale Monday against Atchison (19-9) and then the regular season finale Tuesday at Eudora.
Tonganoxie swept Atchison earlier this season on Sept. 20 at AHS.
Substate pairings will be announced after the regular season ends, but Tonganoxie currently is the No. 10 seed. That means if the postseason started now, THS would be in the Baldwin substate, as the Bulldogs currently are the No. 2 seed in the 4A East Bracket at 23-3. Others in the substate as of now would be No. 7 Wamego (13-11) and No. 15 Iola (6-15)