Manhattan High volleyball gave its seniors a night to remember.<\/p>\n
In front of a packed home crowd Thursday, the Indians capped their regular season with a 2-0 sweep of Salina South and a three-set statement win over 5A power Maize South, climbing to 25-8 heading into sub-state week.<\/p>\n
The matchup against Maize South (33-4) was billed as one of the toughest tests of the season \u2014 and it lived up to the hype. The Mavericks entered as one of the state\u2019s top programs, trailing only 35-1 Bishop Carroll in the 5A standings. They had previously swept Washburn Rural, which accounts for half of Manhattan\u2019s losses this season.<\/p>\n
Still, the Indians rose to the moment. After falling behind early in Set 1, Manhattan rallied to tie it late before dropping a narrow 25-20 decision. The second set followed a similar script \u2014 a 5-0 hole quickly erased by six straight points \u2014 and Manhattan pulled away late to win 25-21.<\/p>\n
Feeding off a roaring home crowd, the Indians exploded in the decisive third, racing to a 12-5 lead and never looking back in a 25-17 clincher.<\/p>\n
Head coach Nicole Jones said her team\u2019s confidence and serving were key to breaking down the Mavericks\u2019 size and rhythm.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at their roster \u2014 they have a couple girls that are 6-foot-4,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got heart, and we\u2019re going to play really hard. We had a strategy going in \u2014 swing big, cover big \u2014 and they did. The biggest thing that helped us win was our serving. We just served aggressive, got them out of system. They couldn\u2019t keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win set the tone for the rest of the night. Against Salina South (20-16), Manhattan again trailed 5-0 in the opening set but stormed back for a 25-20 victory before closing it out 25-16.<\/p>\n
The Indians finished the evening undefeated at home on senior night, honoring Talia Tindall, Janie Hilgers, and Kelbey Larchick, along with longtime managers Landyn Duncan and Dayson Santana.<\/p>\n
Jones said the seniors\u2019 impact goes far beyond the stat sheet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have our two boy managers who\u2019ve been with us for four years and just love volleyball,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then my three girls \u2014 Janie, Kelbey and Talia \u2014 I\u2019ve known them since they were 12. They really love to celebrate each other, and I just can\u2019t even put into words how much they mean to our program and what they bring as leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Hilgers, senior night felt like a celebration of everything the team has built.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re having so much fun,\u201d Hilgers said. \u201cPractices are getting increasingly harder, just building up for sub-state and state. We\u2019re really focusing on being with each other, and that\u2019s helping us play better together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now heading into the postseason, Hilgers said the team\u2019s mindset mirrors their experiences from the last two years’ sub-state championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s coming in knowing we need to win and still work super hard,\u201d she said. \u201cDon\u2019t treat anyone as an underdog \u2014 everyone deserves that respect. Last year, we were the underdog, but we won by 12 points in the second set. Getting back to state a third time in a row would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior Bailey Busch echoed that sentiment and credited the seniors for fueling the team\u2019s chemistry and drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey mean so much. We really wouldn\u2019t be here without them,\u201d Busch said. \u201cTheir energy and how much they love the game of volleyball has really gotten us through the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Busch added that the group\u2019s confidence heading into sub-state is high.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of confidence, and mainly we just want to have fun,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to get to state again, but we\u2019re taking it one step at a time, and we\u2019re excited to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones said Thursday’s home crowd, which packed the MHS gym, showed just how much support the program has earned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo fun,\u201d she said. \u201cWe love it. Football’s senior night is tomorrow, so it was fun that they all came tonight to support us. Having all our friends and family there \u2014 it was a good night all around.\u201d<\/p>\n
With sub-state assignments announced Monday, Manhattan currently sits in position to host as the No. 4 overall team in the 6A West standings.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we can host \u2014 I\u2019ve been doing all the math,\u201d Jones said with a smile. \u201cWe just have to play well, play hard, and not be afraid, no matter who we\u2019re matched up against. They can beat anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manhattan High volleyball gave its seniors a night to remember. In front of a packed home crowd Thursday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-6748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-manhattan","9":"tag-manhattan-headlines","10":"tag-manhattan-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}