That performance came after the Chieftains placed third Saturday at the Rossville tournament despite a depleted roster.

Tonganoxie swept Bishop Ward and Highland Park before grinding out a third match against Atchison.

Tonganoxie defeated Ward, 25-14, 25-10, and Highland Park, 25-6, 25-4. In the Atchison match, Tonganoxie needed extra points in both sets. THS won the first set, 27-25 and the second, 29-27.

Those victories moved THS to 7-7 on the season after Tonganoxie placed fourth at the Rossville Tournament on Saturday.

Tonganoxie had eight players available Monday due to COVID-19 protocols and just seven for Saturday’s tournament.

Still, Tonganoxie managed to go 3-3 at Rossville.

Rossville won 25-13, 25-15 in the first set, but THS bounced back with a 25-13, 25-22 victory against Hayden and then a 26-24, 25-27, 25-22 victory against Wamego. THS then took care of Holton, 25-23, 25-15, but couldn’t quite get past Nemaha Central. The Thunder won in three sets, 24-26, 25-15, 25-22. Rossville then won the rematch in similar fashion, 25-18, 25-15.

THS coach Sara Poje Schmidt said she was “super proud” of the team as it played its first match at 9 a.m. and its final match at 6 p.m., all with a limited roster.

“They left it all on the court,” Schmidt said.

Tonganoxie was scheduled to play again Tuesday with a Frontier League match against Bonner Springs at home, but a power outage in parts of Tonganoxie forced postponement. The match took place Wednesday instead. THS won the first two sets, 28-26 and 25-17, but Bonner Springs answered, winning 25-16, 25-16, the next two sets. In a tight fifth set, Bonner Springs eventually escaped with a 15-12 advantage and won the match, 3-2. The loss dropped the Chieftains to 7-8.

“They played well,” Schmidt said about her team after the match Wednesday.

The Chieftains will have a few days to prepare for their home invitational, which starts at 8 a.m. Saturday. Other teams slated to participate are De Soto, Eudora, Great Bend, Junction City, Ottawa, Piper, Shawnee Mission Northwest, Topeka High and Turner.

“As long as we are up, we’ll play well,” Schmidt said, explaining that the team is successful when players compete with energy and have some fun playing the game. “As long as we’re not thinking.”

The team struggles when players overthink a play, according to Schmidt.

The team also is home again Monday with matches against Baldwin and Kansas City Christian.