Gardner-Edgerton gat past THS, 25-17, 26-24, in the first match of pool play, but the Chieftains bounced back by winning out during the rest of pool play. THS standout Lucy Rieke suffered an ankle injury in that first match, but Tonganoxie players stepped up in her absence. The Chieftains breezed by Junction City, 25-7, 25-10 and then needed three sets to defeat both Piper and Eudora.

Tonganoxie, which lost to Piper in its first night of the season, avenged that loss at Saturday’s invitational. THS won, 22-25, 26-24, 25-16. The Chieftains also lost their first set to Eudora, 27-25, but won the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-16.

The 3-1 record helped Tonganoxie advance to the tournament semifinals along with Blue Valley Southwest, Gardner-Edgerton and St. Marys.

THS opened the semifinals with a 25-19 victory against Blue Valley Southwest. But the Timberwolves answered with 25-15 and 25-17 victories in the next two sets and advanced to the finals.

Tonganoxie faced St. Marys in the third-place match and swept the Bears in two sets, 25-17, 25-19.

Blue Valley Southwest went on to win the tournament title. The Timberwolves defeated the Trailblazers in two sets, as BVSW swept Gardner-Edgerton, 25-12, 25-17.

THS coach Barry Lenth was proud of how his team performed at the home invitational. Players also stepped up in the process. Lucy Rieke did return later in the tourney and was available for all of bracket play, but was at 50%, as Lenth noted. And Riley Pankey, who suffered an ankle injury in the preseason, got an elbow to the jaw during a collision with a teammate and later hurt her knee later in the tournament Saturday.

“I think we were happy with the third-place finish, especially going against Blue Valley Southwest we went three sets,” Lenth said.

The THS coach said he likes going with a 12-member roster for varsity so that the team can scrimmage 6-on-6 and have that practice experience in case the team is down players due to injury.

“It’s just next girl up,” Lenth said.

He said sophomore middle hitter Charleigh Crain had a strong tournament, while the team continues to get big production out of senior leaders Mikinzi Smoots, Bailey Poje and Kasia Baldock who are on the court nearly all the time.

Tonganoxie, ranked No. 6 in the latest Kansas Volleyball Association rankings, went 4-2 at its home invitational. THS moved to 16-4 after Saturday’s tournament and also is 2-0 in Frontier League play.

The Chieftains have a busy week ahead, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier.

THS travels Monday to Emporia to face Emporia and Baldwin and then faces BHS again Tuesday at Baldwin. Monday’s matches start at 5 p.m. Tuesday’s varsity match will start around 6:30 p.m. Emporia is 15-1, while Baldwin is 14-3 overall and 3-0 in Frontier League play.

Tonganoxie then is on the road again at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Eudora (2-1 and 11-7) before heading to the Ottawa Invitational on Saturday. The tournament starts at 9 a.m. at OHS and will offer another talented field. Other teams there are Ottawa (10-12), Basehor-Linwood (3-12), Bishop Miege (6-11), Louisburg (13-8) and Maize South (15-1).

THS will be back home Oct. 3 against Louisburg.

Stats leaders

Lucy Rieke leads the team in kills per set and hitting percentage. She is averaging 3.3 kills per set and is swinging at a .295 hitting percentage.

Smoots is second in kills per set and Finley Rieke third with 3.1 a 2.0 per set, respectively. Finley Rieke is second in hitting percentage at .262 and Kasia Baldock third at .242.

Poje leads digs per set at 4.3,w with Smoots at 3.1 and Kaitlyn Dale at 2.8.

Dale leads aces per set at 0.9, whole Kasia Baldock is at 0.5 and Bailey Poje at 0.5.