Wildcats sweep Wamego, Olathe North to end regular season

Louisburg sophomore Delaney Nelsen goes up for the kill attempt Thursday during the Wildcats’ home match against Olathe North.

In its final contest before the postseason, the Louisburg volleyball team had a chance to exact a little revenge.

The Wildcats happily took advantage of the opportunity on their home floor.

On Thursday, Louisburg rallied to defeat Olathe North, 19-25, 25-16 and 25-22 and avenged a loss from earlier this season. Prior to that, the Wildcats defeated Wamego 25-14 and 25-10 to end the regular season with a pair of victories.

“Any time we are able to get a ‘revenge rematch,’ we love having the opportunity to show our growth and push to get the win the second time around,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “I think it means a little bit more, knowing that we have something to prove. Olathe North is a solid team who came to battle that night, and I am proud of our team for pushing through the three sets after dropping the first. We rallied together as a team for the comeback, and that’s always fun to watch.”

After splitting the first two sets, Olathe North had a 22-19 lead in the deciding third set and had the momentum on it side. Louisburg, however, was quickly able to take it back.

The Wildcats ended the match on a 6-0 run that included two kills from Hailey Sword and a block from Delaney Nelsen. Megan Quinn served the final six points, including an ace.

Sword had a big night all-around for Louisburg as she notched a team-high 10 kills in the match and also had two aces and 10 digs.

Madie Williams also made her presence known all over the floor for the Wildcats. She tallied a team-high 14 digs and three aces to go along with seven kills.

Freshman Adelyn Moore and Quinn set up their hitters well as they had a combined 26 assists, including 17 from Moore.

“Finishing our regular season with two wins last week was a great way to cap off the season and head into the postseason with confidence,” Willer said. “Playing on a day with no school is always a challenge, but we came in ready to go and the girls were fired up. We are working hard this week to ensure that we are playing our best volleyball come Saturday, keeping that energy alive.”

Against Wamego, Louisburg got out to a fast start in an easy 2-0 win to begin the triangular. Sword led the way with five kills and Williams finished with four. 

Quinn and Moore had 10 and seven assists, respectively, while Williams had a team-high eight digs. Quinn and Nelsen each had two aces as the Wildcats had seven in the match.

Louisburg (22-14) now prepares for the Class 4A sub-state tournament. The Wildcats are the No. 7 seed and will square off with No. 10 Paola at 3 p.m. Saturday at Independence High School. 

The championship match is scheduled for 4 p.m. as the Wildcats try to head back to the state tournament after their fourth place finish a season ago.

“We are very excited for the postseason,” Willer said. “We have a ton of fun traditions leading up to sub-state, but the main focus of the week is preparing ourselves to play our best volleyball yet this weekend. All of the time and energy we’ve put in throughout the season has led us to this one week where what really matters are the people next to you – giving it your all for your teammates is what this is all about. We are looking forward to the opportunity to earn ourselves a spot back at the state tournament in Hutchinson.”

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