Louisburg senior Erin Lemke (left) and junior Carleigh Pritchard go up for a block during last Saturday’s sub-state tournament. The Lady Cats begin state tournament play at 4:30 p.m. today in Hutchinson.

For the last two years, the
Louisburg volleyball team has found itself in the last match of the season.

It is a pretty good place to be, and for some programs, it would be monumental to reach the state championship game in back-to-back years. The Lady Cats were proud of what they accomplished, but finishing second both times has left them wanting more.

“We all are tired of talking about
taking second because this and that happens,” Louisburg senior Reilly
Ratliff-Becher said. “I’ve been saying third time is the charm and I think this
is our year.”

Louisburg will soon find out as it begins its journey toward a state title today at the Class 4A state tournament in Hutchinson. The Lady Cats will open with pool play at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon and will face off against No. 1 Andale, No. 4 Holton and No. 5 Nickerson.

The top two teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Hutchinson Sports Arena, on the campus of Hutchinson Community College.

The Lady Cats, who are the No. 8 seed with a 21-15 record, will open against Andale, which has been ranked the No. 1 team in Class 4A for most of the season. Louisburg defeated Andale in the state semifinals a year ago, so the Lady Cats are somewhat familiar with their first opponent.

“I am excited to see them again,” Louisburg senior Erin Lemke said of Andale. “Every team is different this year, and I think it is exciting for us to see them again after playing them last year. Them being No. 1 most of the year is not a fear of ours, and I think we are more excited than anything. When we play together, and for each other, is when we play or best.”

Louisburg will also see a pair of unfamiliar foes in Holton and Nickerson, but the Lady Cats aren’t as worried about their opponents as much as they are about themselves.

“We will play whoever we get paired up against,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It was the same thing we told the girls getting ready for sub-state, that regardless who is on the other side, no one else can control what we do on our side of the court. If we take care of our business, and keep our energy level high, then no one can stop us. If we leave it all out on the court, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side.”

The Lady Cats took care of
business this past week as they knocked out perennial state tournament
participant, Bishop Miege, in the first round of sub-state.

Louisburg brought its energy level
up and it translated into one of its better matches of the season. The Lady Cats
hope to use that same recipe this weekend in Hutchinson as they try to earn the
school’s first state volleyball championship.

“This week, coach said this is the
most energy a team has played with during practice since she has been here,”
Ratliff-Becher said. “Since I’ve been here, I think we are the most prepared
than we have ever been and every single player is ready to do their job.

“I think if we come out with the same energy that we did last week, we are going to win every single game. I told my teammates that we are winning every single game, no matter how sloppy or awful it looks.”

Experience will certainly be on
Louisburg’s side as the Lady Cats have six seniors on their roster, and many of
them will participate in their third state tournament. They have several
players back who saw state action last season, including seniors Haley Cain,
Lemke, Ratlff-Becher and Kallevig.

Junior middle blocker Carleigh
Pritchard, along with sophomore setters Rinny McMullen and Davis Guetterman,
also played big roles on last season’s state tournament team. All of the
players realize what they are going to have to do to reach their goal.

“We all know what it takes to win to get to state, and once we get there, we know what it is like playing with those teams,” senior Riley Kallevig said. “Hopefully we can all play our game, everyone will do their part and we can have a good weekend.

“Being able to get second is a
good accomplishment, but twice in a row is kind of tough. I think we are ready
to bring home that first state title. It would be amazing.”

If anything, the Lady Cats will try to use those back-to-back state runner-up finishes as a reminder of what they have missed out on heading into this weekend.

“For a few of them, they have
their two second place medals and I think that is added motivation for them to
go down there and win a state title,” Compliment said. “A lot of people would
be happy in getting second at state last year, but I think after it was over,
there was a lot unfinished business left there with some of these seniors. They
know this is their last chance to get that title for those seniors. We have to
take care of business first on Friday, but they definitely have a little motivation
after the last couple of years.”

After their match with Andale, the
Lady Cats will face off with Holton (30-11) at 5:30 p.m. and Nickerson (27-13)
at 7:30 p.m.

No. 2 Independence (35-3), No. 3
Towanda-Circle (33-6), No. 6 Eudora (26-13) and No. 7 Topeka-Hayden (25-14)
will compete in the other pool.

Louisburg senior Haley Cain holds up the Class 4A sub-state championship trophy and celebrates with her teammates following the Lady Cats’ 2-0 win over Atchison in the championship match Saturday at Atchison High School. Louisburg also upset Bishop Miege in the sub-state semifinal match, 2-0.

ATCHISON – The sub-state semifinal
game between Louisburg and Bishop Miege on Saturday had all the feels of a
state tournament match.

Partially because a year ago, it
was.

Louisburg met Miege in the state championship match only to see the Stags send the Lady Cats to a runner-up finish in two sets. Then three weeks ago the two teams met again, and like before, Miege dispatched of Louisburg in two sets.

However, Bishop Miege saw a different Louisburg team during the sub-state tournament at Atchison High School – one they didn’t expect.

The Lady Cats came out on fire and
never let up in a 25-18 and 25-22 win over Miege to end the Stags’ season. It
marks the first time in at least 12 years, if not longer, that Miege will not
be at the state tournament.

Since the state tournament began
in 1971, Bishop Miege has made 39 state appearances during that time in either
Class 5A or 4A and is the most in Kansas history.

“Our energy was going to be the
difference in that match, so we knew we had to bring it,” Louisburg senior Erin
Lemke said. “We knew we had the same skill set as Miege, but our energy was
what was going to pull us through there in the end. To get there, we just had
to believe in ourselves and work hard this past week to give us the confidence
that we needed.”

However, even after pulling off a
big revenge win that expended a lot of energy, the Lady Cats still had a
sub-state championship match to play against No. 2 seed Atchison. The No. 7
seed Lady Cats took care of business as they won in straight sets, 25-12 and
25-15, at Atchison High School.

This will be the eighth time in 10 years that Louisburg has qualified for the state tournament, including three straight appearances. The Lady Cats have also finished second at state the last two seasons.

“I am super excited,” Louisburg senior
Reilly Ratliff-Becher said. “We have worked so hard this past week in practice,
especially coming off a bad tournament the week before. Our mentality changed
and that was big for us.”

Louisburg (21-15) came out with a
purpose to open the tournament and put Bishop Miege in a hole early as the Lady
Cats jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the first behind kills from junior Carleigh
Pritchard, seniors Liz Jacobs, Lemke and junior Alyse Moore. Senior Haley Cain
also provided two blocks during that span and the Lady Cats were off and
running.

The Lady Cats went up 22-12 after
sophomore setter Rinny McMullen sent the ball to the back corner for a point
away from the Miege defense and they were able to close out the set.

“They were amped up and ready to
play Miege,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “I think with all the talk
with private schools against public schools, I think the girls just said enough
is enough and we are going to do this. They realized it is just a name on the
jersey and that they can beat them.”

In the second set, the two teams
were tied at 10-all before the Lady Cats went on a 7-0 run as McMullen served
six straight points, including three aces, to put Louisburg up 17-10.

Miege cut the Lady Cat lead to
21-18 late, but kills from Pritchard and Lemke closed out the 25-22 victory and
put them in the sub-state championship.

“I don’t think Miege expected us
to come out this way,” Compliment said. “They saw us three weeks ago at the
Ottawa tournament and went on an 11-0 run on us. I think our energy, our
aggressive offense and our defense really was the difference. We had some
amazing blocks up front and I think all our girls played great and I don’t
think Miege was expecting that.

“They are a good team and you have
to respect good teams and the tradition they have. Both programs have that
tradition of making it to state and doing well there and this was a rematch of
the state finals and it is odd that it is in the first round of sub-state. Now
one of those teams that usually goes to state isn’t going to be there and I
told the girls that we don’t want it to be us.”

The Lady Cats had a balanced
attack offensively as Pritchard, Jacobs and Lemke each had five kills to lead
the way, while senior Riley Kallevig added four. McMullen also finished with a
team-high four aces and had nine assists along with fellow setter Davis
Guetterman.

Louisburg also stepped up on
defense as Lemke, Pritchard, Cain and Kallevig each had a pair of blocks in the
win. Kallevig also finished with a team-high eight digs, while Ratliff-Becher
and McMullen both had five.

“I wasn’t surprised because this
summer we did amazing things like that and that is how it felt out there on the
court,” Cain said of the Miege win. “It seemed like we had been missing
something lately and I think we brought it out for sub-state.

“I think we played amazing. We
were all consistent and played so well and beating Miege is one of the best
feelings I’ve had.”

Louisburg finished the first match on a high, but the Lady Cats had to keep that momentum going against Atchison in the championship game.

McMullen helped the Lady Cats jump out to a 6-1 lead over Atchison in the first set thanks to three aces and they held the advantage throughout the set. Louisburg finished the first set on a 7-2 run thanks to a pair of kills from Moore and an ace from Chase Kallevig.

The Lady Cats picked up right
where they left off in the second set as they opened on an 11-5 run after two
aces from Chase Kallevig and kills from Moore, Riley Kallevig, Pritchard and
Cain. Louisburg then took a 21-9 lead after a pair of kills from Cain and never
looked back.

“When we play for each other is
when we have our best outcome,” Lemke said. “We had to have same mentality that
we had against Miege. We knew the skill level wasn’t exactly the same, but we
knew we had to play the same way and we are able to go to state.”

Cain led the Lady Cats with eight
kills in the championship match, while Moore finished with five and Pritchard
added four. McMullen set up some of those kills with 10 assists and Guetterman
added seven.

Serving was a strength for
Louisburg as it recorded 10 aces, four of which came from Chase Kallevig.
McMullen recorded three aces and Ratliff-Becher had two.

Defensively, Ratliff-Becher had
six digs to lead the Lady Cats and Riley Kallevig had five.

“Every year going to state is our
goal, but every year you know that you can’t take anything for granted and you
can’t expect that trip to state to happen,” Compliment said. “Kudos to the
girls because every year they have made the time in the offseason, they have
come in during the summer and they have worked hard. We had kind of an up and down
year, and I think some people thought that we weren’t going to be as good this
season.

“It says so much for the girls
this year and I told them that they are capable of doing this but they had to
believe in themselves, put in the work and become a team. This whole season we
have been struggling to find who the go-to person was going to be, and Anna
(Dixon) was that person for us for the longest time, and I am proud of how they
stepped up to play.”

Louisburg will now prepare for the
Class 4A state tournament which begins Friday afternoon at Hutchinson Community
College. The Lady Cats are the No. 8 seed and will open pool play at 4:30 p.m. against
No. 1 Andale (35-2), and then follow up with matches against No. 4 Holton
(24-11) and No. 5 Nickerson (27-13).

No. 2 Independence (35-3), No. 3
Towanda-Circle (33-6), No. 6 Eudora (26-13) and No. 7 Topeka-Hayden (25-14) are
in the other pool. The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the
semifinals on Saturday.

After two runner-up finishes in as
many years, the Lady Cats are ready to take that next step to the school’s
first state championship.

“Our mindset is to definitely go
out there and win state,” Ratliff-Becher said. “We have come up short the last
two years and now it is time to win.”

Sophomore setter Rinny McMullen sets up a teammate during a match earlier this season. Louisburg will face Bishop Miege on Saturday in the first round of sub-state in Atchison.

The last time Louisburg and Bishop
Miege met on the volleyball court in the postseason was last year’s state
championship match.

This time around, the same two
teams will be meeting again, but this time in the first round of the sub-state
tournament.

Louisburg (19-15), which is the
No. 7 seed, will travel to Atchison to face No. 10 Bishop Miege (15-22) at 3
p.m. on Saturday in a rematch of the Class 4A state title match.

Records and seeds don’t mean much
when it comes to postseason play as Miege is currently the No. 3-ranked team in
Class 4A and the Lady Cats are No. 5. Two of the top teams in the state will
square off in hopes of making it to Salina for the state tournament.

“The team that shows up is the team that
comes away with the win,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “Seven of our
10 players have the experience of playing at state, and I think this match will
have that feel to it. It is a rematch of the state championship so it should be
a good match.”

The Lady Cats do have a little momentum
going into the match as they defeated Piper on the road Tuesday in their
regular season finale, 25-11, 25-9 and 25-19. The victory snapped what was a
five-match losing streak that happened the week before.

“It
was good to end the regular season on a win against Piper,” Compliment said. “We
didn’t win the league title this year, but it was still important to finish
strong in the league. It wasn’t our cleanest match, but the team was able to
loosen up and have fun for their last regular season match.”

Junior Carleigh Pritchard led the charge
offensively against Piper as she finished with a team-high eight kills and
senior Haley Cain was right behind her with six. Senior Erin Lemke added five
in the win.

The Lady Cats did a lot of damage from
behind the service line as they recorded 15 aces in the three sets. Cain had a
big night with five aces and served a team-high 12 points, while libero Reilly
Ratliff-Becher and sophomore Chase Kallevig each had three.

Sophomore Rinny McMullen recorded a
team-best 12 assists and fellow sophomore Davis Guetterman finished with nine.
McMullen also had team-high six digs and Cain was second with four.

With the regular season behind them, the
Lady Cats are putting their focus on the postseason – namely Bishop Miege. The
two teams met earlier this season and the Stags took Louisburg down in two
sets, 25-19 and 25-15.

Compliment and the Lady Cats believes
Miege will see a different team than the one they saw at the Ottawa
Invitational earlier this month.

“The team is excited to see Miege on
Saturday,” Compliment said. “We didn’t play our best when we saw them earlier
in the season, but I think we’ve gotten stronger since then. Miege always plays
tough in the postseason, but we also seem to step up when it comes to postseason
play. We have a lot of players who have been in many high stakes matches, and
any postseason match is high stakes match.”

The two teams will square off at 3 p.m.,
at Atchison High School. The winner of that match will play the winner between
No. 2 seed Atchison and the winner of the play-in game between Field Kindley
and Parsons for the sub-state championship.

Louisburg senior Riley Kallevig sends a shot over the net Thursday during the Lady Cats’ match with Olathe North on Senior Night.

On what was supposed to be a night
of celebrating the work of six Louisburg seniors, Thursday’s match against
Olathe North ended on a sour note.

The Lady Cats, who were playing
their final home match of the season, fell behind early to the Eagles and
couldn’t catch up in a 25-18, 25-22, 17-25 and 25-23 loss during Senior Night at
Louisburg High School.

Before the match, the Lady Cats
honored seniors Haley Cain, Liz Jacobs, Riley Kallevig, Sydni Keagle, Erin
Lemke and Reilly Ratliff-Becher. Many of those seniors played big roles in the
Lady Cats’ run to back-to-back state championship appearances.

“These
six seniors are a special group,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It’s
been fun to watch them grow and develop over the years. A good portion of them
have been on varsity since they were freshmen or sophomores, so they’ve been
key players in our recent success.

“They’ve
put in a lot of work over the years, and they aren’t done yet this year.
Hopefully, they’ll have an opportunity to play at state again this season. This
is a special group of seniors who get along really well. They are a fun bunch
to coach.”

Olathe North jumped on the Lady Cats early on in the first set as the Eagles opened the match on a 14-4 run. Louisburg tried to claw back, and cut the Eagle lead to 18-14 at one point, but couldn’t get any closer.

In the second set, the Lady Cats traded leads with the Eagles, but back-to-back kills from Jacobs gave Louisburg a 19-17 advantage late. Olathe North responded with a 6-1 run to help win the set and take a 2-0 lead.

Louisburg responded nicely in the third set as it went on a 6-0 run of its own behind the serving from sophomore Davis Guetterman to put the Lady Cats up 17-8 and they didn’t look back. Junior Carleigh Pritchard also recorded a pair of kills and a block during that run.

The
Lady Cats didn’t have enough in the fourth set to keep the match alive, but
made it interesting. Louisburg’s defense stepped up late won a big point to
take a 16-15 lead after a long volley that was kept alive on a big dig from
Ratliff-Becher.

Louisburg once against battled back from a three-point deficit to go up 23-22 on an ace from Chase Kallevig, but the Eagles scored the final three points to take the set and the match.

“It was tough to lose on Senior Night,” Compliment said. “You always want to be able to send the seniors off with a final win on their home court. Olathe North was smart and played aggressive the entire evening.”

Cain and Pritchard played big in the middle as the two players led the Lady Cats with 12 kills each. Jacobs also finished with nine on the outside and sophomore Rinny McMullen had six from the setter’s spot.

Louisburg also served well at times as it had nine aces, including five from Guetterman, who served 13 points. McMullen led the Lady Cat offense with 21 assists and Guetterman added 12.

Defensively, Riley Kallevig led the team
in digs with 15, while Ratliff-Becher finished with 12 and Chase Kallevig added
10. Lemke finished with a team-high three blocks along with Pritchard.

The Lady Cats will try and bounce back
tonight when it travels to Piper for their final regular season match of the
season.

Louisburg goes winless at Emporia

Louisburg traveled to the Emporia
Invitational on Saturday, and like much of its season, the Lady Cats went up
against bigger programs, some of which were state-ranked.

It was a tough outing for the Lady Cats
as they lost all four of their matches.

Louisburg lost to Bishop Carroll (25-17,
25-21), Shawnee Heights (25-20, 20-25, 25-17), Bonner Springs (25-23, 25-17)
and Lawrence (25-22, 21-25 and 25-14).

“Saturday was a rough and tough day,”
Compliment said. “Yes, we did see some tough competition, but we had moments
where we could have pulled away with a win or at least played closer with
a few of the teams. We made quite a few service errors which cost us a lot of
points throughout the day. This tournament is similar to the Lansing tournament
as far as level of play and teams. We were lacking intensity throughout the
day, and other teams showed a lot more emotion and drive.

“There were moments though where I
thought we were turning around and fighting back to win, but unfortunately we
came up short each time.  We had some great defensive plays throughout the
day, and our serve receive was pretty consistent as well.”

Louisburg junior Alyse Moore (left) and senior Haley Cain team up for a block during last week’s home match against Eudora.

It may have just been a normal
Frontier League match to the casual fan, but last Tuesday’s dual between
Louisburg and Eudora at Louisburg High School had more postseason ramifications
than many people may realize.

Both teams have near identical
records and are fighting for a top four seed to have the ability to host the
upcoming sub-state tournament. They knew what was at stake and both teams
played like it, especially in the first set.

Louisburg rallied from four-point deficit late and took the first set 30-28 over the Cardinals. From there, the momentum was with the Lady Cats as they took the next two sets 25-21 and 25-21 to win the match.

“Obviously losing to Bonner Springs and Spring Hill earlier in the year, we are out of the running for a league championship, but this is still a league school and we still have to go for it and fight,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “With where the records are falling, and the potential to host sub-state, records become important and Eudora has a good record. There are three of us that are like neck-and-neck. There is still a lot to be played, but it is pretty dicey up there with the top five or six teams.”

The top four teams, record-wise,
on each side of the state will get to host sub-state and the Lady Cats improved
their mark to 18-10 and are currently sitting as the No. 3 seed with two weeks
of competition left to go. Since then, Eudora has seen its record fall to 22-13
and in the No. 5 spot.

The Lady Cats were able to get
that potentially big victory thanks to the adversity it overcame early. Eudora
went on 6-0 run to take a 22-18 lead and was well on its way to taking the
first set.

Instead, Louisburg went on a 7-2
run of its own to take a 25-24 lead thanks to kills from junior Carleigh
Pritchard and senior Erin Lemke. Eudora won the next two points to force a game
point at 26-25, but Lemke and senior Liz Jacobs responded with back-to-back
kills to go back up.

It went back-and-forth until Jacobs
recorded kill at 29-28 and sophomore Rinny McMullen ended it with a tip over
the Cardinals front row to give the Lady Cats all momentum.

“This was probably the first time
all season where we have played three sets consistently and aggressive the
whole time,” Compliment said. “We played to win every single ball and we didn’t
back off on anything. Winning that first set, and battling the entire time was
huge for morale and confidence. It was a big first set.

“I just told the girls they need
to start putting the ball away and not play timid. You have hit, be smart and
be aggressive. I told them there shouldn’t be a ball that gets left untouched
and I think they responded.”

From there, the Lady Cats took care of business as they took control midway through each of the next two sets and never looked back.

Pritchard and senior Haley Cain
had a big night in the middle as they led Louisburg offensive attack with 11
and 10 kills, respectively. Junior Alyse Moore finished with nine, while Lemke
and Jacobs each had six. Senior Riley Kallevig had six kills in the win.

Setters Davis Guetterman and Rinny
McMullen served up those kill opportunities as they each finished with 22
assists on the night and McMullen also had a team-high three aces.

Defensively, senior libero
Reilly-Ratliff Becher led Louisburg with 16 digs, while Kallevig also finished
in double figures with 12.

Louisburg will play its final regular
season home match Thursday when it hosts Olathe North on Senior Night. The
match is set to begin at 6 p.m.

Louisburg senior Liz Jacobs goes up for a kill during the Lady Cats’ match against Olathe West on Saturday at the Ottawa Invitational.

It was another busy week for the
Louisburg volleyball team as the Lady Cats played two league duals and a
tournament in a five-day period.

Louisburg ventured to the Ottawa Invitational on Saturday and played in five matches during the round-robin tournament. The Lady Cats finished third overall with a 3-2 record, with their only two losses coming against state-ranked teams.

The Lady Cats got wins against
Ottawa (2-0), Olathe West (2-1) and Highland Park (2-0), before falling to
Bishop Miege (2-0) and Basehor-Linwood (2-1).

“We had a good day at Ottawa,” Louisburg
coach Jessica Compliment said. “The team stepped up and played well together I
thought all day. We didn’t come out and play our best versus Miege. We had a
bit of a mental block and didn’t put our best effort into that match. Outside
of the Miege match, we played really well.”

Ottawa was the first opponent for
Louisburg and the Lady Cats took care of business with a 25-17 and 25-21 win.
They faced a tough challenge in their next match when they had to go three sets
against Olathe West.

The two teams had split earlier in the year, but Louisburg came out strong with a 25-20 win in the first set. Olathe West countered with a 25-21 victory in the second and were one point away from winning the match in the third set.

Olathe West had a 24-20 lead in the third
set, but the Lady Cats responded to go on a 6-0 run as sophomore Davis Guetterman
served the last six points, including an ace, to help Louisburg get a big win.

The momentum was short-lived, however, as
the Lady Cats had a tough time keeping up with Bishop Miege in the next match
as they fell 25-19 and 25-15. Miege, the No. 4 ranked team in Class 4A, took a
14-4 lead in the first set and never looked back.

Louisburg quickly put that loss behind them as it matched up with Basehor-Linwood, the No. 10-ranked team in Class 5A. The Lady Cats lost the first set 25-19, but rallied to win the second 25-18.

The Lady Cats continued to play hard into the third set, before falling 27-25. It was the second loss to the Bobcats this season.

“It was good to beat Olathe West again because
they beat us at Lansing,” Compliment said. “We are 2-1 now versus them. The
Basehor match was a well-played match. The third set was a close one, and I
thought the team played and fought hard until the last whistle.

Junior Alyse Moore had a busy match at the net as she recorded a team-high 10 kills and also had three blocks. Seniors Liz Jacobs and Erin Lemke each had seven kills, while senior Haley Cain had six kills and a team-high four blocks.

Louisburg served strong as it recorded six aces, including a pair each from sophomores Rinny McMullen and Chase Kallevig, and junior Carleigh Pritchard.

Defensively, the Lady Cats also
played well as seniors Reilly Ratliff-Becher and Riley Kallevig led the team
with nine digs and Guetterman added eight. Guetterman also had a big outing as
the team’s setter as she had 18 assists and McMullen had 12.

The Lady Cats closed out the tournament with a 25-4 and 25-12 win over Highland Park.

Jacobs and Riley Kallevig led
Louisburg offensively with five kills each, but it was the serving where the
Lady Cats did their damage.

Louisburg racked up 19 aces in two
sets, seven of which came from Ratliff-Becher and Chase Kallevig added five of
her own. Guetterman also had 17 assists in the victory.

Louisburg downs Baldwin, Tonganoxie

Louisburg was also able to find
success in Frontier League play as the Lady Cats swept both Tonganoxie and
Baldwin.

The Lady Cats traveled to
Tonganoxie last Thursday and left with a 25-18, 25-8 and 25-18 victory over the
Chieftains. Two days earlier, Louisburg hosted Baldwin and came away with an
easy 25-7, 25-14 and 25-17 win.

Against Baldwin, junior Carleigh
Pritchard led the Louisburg offensive attack with nine kills, while senior Liz
Jacobs finished with eight and seniors Haley Cain and Erin Lemke each added
seven.

Louisburg was also strong from
behind the service line as it racked up 12 aces, including six from sophomore
Rinny McMullen. Cain and junior Alyse Moore were strong at the net defensively
with three blocks each.

Senior libero Reilly
Ratliff-Becher also had a big night in the back row as she tallied a team-high
20 digs. McMullen and fellow sophomore Davis Guetterman also had a strong
evening at the setter spot with 22 and 12 assists, respectively.

“The team played well
both nights,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “In both matches, we
served tough and were able to take both teams out of their offense. Reilly and
Chase Kallevig played some great defense both evenings. There are still a few
areas we need to work on cleaning up, but overall the team played with a lot of
energy.”

In its match with
Tonganoxie, Pritchard once again led Louisburg up front with a team-high eight
kills, while Moore finished with seven. Lemke and senior Riley Kallevig had six
kills each.

The Lady Cats also
had nine aces in the match, including four each from McMullen and Chase
Kallevig. Ratliff-Becher also led Louisburg defensively with 11 digs.

McMullen had a
team-high 21 assists to lead the offense and Guetterman was right behind her
with 15.

Louisburg senior Haley Cain blocks an Olathe North shot at the net Saturday during the Louisburg Invitational. Cain and the Lady Cats finished second overall.

It certainly did end the way it
wanted, but the Louisburg volleyball team took a lot of positives Saturday following
the Louisburg Invitational.

The Lady Cats may have finished
second, but they picked up several wins along with the way and advanced to the championship
match where they squared off with Basehor-Linwood. Louisburg fell to the
Bobcats in two sets, but it was a step forward for the team this season.

“I thought we played pretty well throughout
the entire tournament,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It’s always a
positive when you are playing in the championship, and even better when it’s
our home tournament. Overall, we had
fewer ups and downs throughout the tournament. We did hit a couple slumps, but
we were quicker to respond than we had been in the past.”

Louisburg opened the tournament strong as it went 3-0 in pool
play and it got started with a 25-14 and 25-16 win over Shawnee Mission West
and then downed Olathe North, 25-16 and 25-21. The Lady Cats finished it off
with an easy win over Heritage Christian, 25-4 and 25-7.

Once they got to the semifinals, the Lady Cats came up against their first challenge of the tournament against Shawnee Mission East. Louisburg found itself down 17-11 in the first set, but rallied to back to win 25-22 and 25-18.

Junior Carleigh Pritchard registered three
kills in the comeback, while senior Haley Cain recorded an ace and served
several points in a row for the Lady Cats in the first set. Tied at 19-all, senior
Riley Kallevig served an ace, Pritchard and senior Liz Jacobs recorded a kill and
sophomore setter Davis Guetterman tipped the ball over the East defense for a point
and a 23-20 lead.

“I was very happy to see how the team
responded and rallied back to win the first set,” Compliment said. “We were
down big and the team really stepped up and played to win rather than not to
win. It was a good match. “

Against Basehor-Linwood in the championship, Louisburg held an 8-5 lead early in the first set after a kill and block from Pritchard and an ace from Kallevig. Basehor eventually went on a run and took a 17-14 lead.

Jacobs recorded a kill to cut the Basehor lead to 20-19, but the Bobcats went on a 5-1 run to end the match and take the first set 25-20.

It was much of the same in the second
set.

Louisburg (12-8) jumped out to a 6-0 lead
after a kill and block from Cain, a block from junior Alyse Moore and an ace
from sophomore Rinny McMullen. Basehor then went on a 11-1 run to take an 11-7
lead.

The Lady Cats didn’t back down and
rallied to tie the match at 21-all after an ace from sophomore Chase Kallevig
and a kill from Riley Kallevig. Another Moore block kept the Louisburg
advantage at 22-21, but Basehor went on a mini 4-1 run to close the match out
at 25-23.

“Basehor is always a tough a team that we
typically see often throughout the season,” Compliment said. “It’s tough to
lose to them, but they are a talented team. I think we had opportunities where
we could have pushed a little harder and possibly won, but I still think the
team played well. A couple plays here or there could have changed the outcome.
We’ll see them again Saturday in Ottawa and hopefully it’ll be different
outcome.”

Jacobs led Louisburg at the net with five
kills against Basehor and senior Erin Lemke finished with four. Moore added a
team-high four blocks at the net, while Pritchard and Cain added three each.

McMullen and Guetterman both recorded
seven assists in the win, while McMullen led the team with 10 digs and senior
libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher added seven.

Against Shawnee Mission East, Pritchard
led the Lady Cat attack with seven kills, while Jacobs and Lemke added six and
five, respectively. McMullen registered three aces and 11 assists in the win,
while Chase Kallevig led the Lady Cats with seven digs.

Guetterman added a team-high 12 assists
in the semifinal win and McMullen finished with 11 of her own.

It was McMullen’s serving that was a big positive
for the Lady Cats on Saturday as she finished the five-match tournament with 16
aces. McMullen also served 16 consecutive points in the first set of the Lady
Cats’ win over Heritage Christian.

“Rinny’s always been a tough server,”
Compliment said. “She leads the team in aces and we definitely score a lot of
points while we’re in that rotation. It was fun to see her serve so well, and the
team responds to the energy those serves and plays bring.”

Louisburg returns to action tonight when
it hosts Baldwin in a Frontier League dual. The Lady Cats will then turnaround
on Thursday and travel to Tonganoxie.

Louisburg rolls Fort Scott, Girard

Before its home tournament, Louisburg traveled to Fort Scott on Thursday for triangular with Girard and left with a pair of easy victories.

Louisburg downed Fort Scott 25-16 and 25-14, and then followed it up with a 25-8 and 25-21 win over Girard.

Against Fort Scott, junior Carleigh
Pritchard led Louisburg with eight kills on the night and senior Riley Kallevig
added five. Seniors Haley Cain and Liz Jacobs both finished with four.

Serving was also strong for the Lady Cats
as they tallied eight aces in the match, including two from Cain, Kallevig and
sophomore Davis Guetterman. Senior libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher added a
team-high six digs and sophomore Chase Kallevig had five.

Sophomore setters Rinny McMullen and
Guetterman also had big nights as they tallied 13 and 12 assists, respectively.

It was a balanced attack against Girard
as Cain and Riley Kallevig each four kills in the win, while Jacobs, Pritchard
and junior Alyse Moore each had three.

McMullen had a team-high three aces, while Cain and Riley Kallevig both
finished with two. McMullen also led Louisburg with 11 assists.

Louisburg libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher runs down a ball Tuesday during a Frontier League dual at Ottawa High School. The Lady Cats defeated Ottawa, 3-1.

OTTAWA – The Louisburg volleyball
team found itself in a pivotal position on the road Tuesday in Ottawa.

In the midst of a five-game losing
streak, the Lady Cats had just lost a second set to Ottawa and the match was
all tied up at 1-all. They could have gone a couple different directions, but
the Lady Cats responded in dominating fashion.

Louisburg ended its losing skid as
it downed Ottawa, 25-20, 18-25, 25-14 and 25-14, and picked up its second
Frontier League win on the season and are now 2-2 in league play.

“We have had such a tough
schedule, we have seen some really good teams and have picked up some losses
along the way, so it is easy to sometimes second guess your confidence level,”
Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “I was happy to see us respond and get
the win. We came out strong, but that second set we just made too many errors
on our side and we needed to loosen up a little bit.”

It was the win the Lady Cats (6-7)
were looking for as they got off to a good start against the Cyclones.
Louisburg found itself down 8-5 in the first set, only to come charging back to
take the lead after sophomore Rinny McMullen served five straight points.

Sophomore Carleigh Pritchard,
along with seniors Liz Jacobs, Sydni Keagle and junior Alyse Moore all provided
kills to put Louisburg up 14-11 and the Lady Cats never looked back.

The Lady Cats weren’t the same
team in the second set as Ottawa took an early 6-5 advantage and never let up
as it extended its lead eight at one point. The Cyclones were able to tie the
match, but it only fueled Louisburg’s fire.

“Ottawa is an improved team and
they were able to dig up a lot of balls and it produced some exciting plays on
both ends of the floor,” Compliment said. “They have a couple pretty good
hitters, but I was happy to see us respond after that second set. You could
tell the girls were having a lot more fun late in the match and that is what we
need to see from them.”

Louisburg took a 15-7 lead in the third
set behind two aces from McMullen, along with kills from Haley Cain, Pritchard,
Jacobs and Keagle. Senior Riley Kallevig provided three kills down the stretch
to give the Lady Cats an 11-point win.

It was much of the same in the fourth. Pritchard registered three kills, a block, Jacobs had two kills and senior Reilly Ratliff-Becher had an ace to help give Louisburg a 13-7 lead. Chase and Riley Kallevig recorded aces late and Cain sealed it with a kill to give the Lady Cats a nice road victory.

McMullen was a factor all night
for Louisburg as she recorded 16 service points on her way to three aces and
also ran the offense well with a team-high 22 assists.

“Rinny is great as far as being a leader on the court and keeping everyone calm, but at the same time finding that urgency and drive out there,” Compliment said. “She has a way of cranking up the energy and I think her teammates feed off her. Her serves are ones that you can always count on to be aggressive and tough.”

Pritchard, the team’s middle
hitter, was a presence at the net as she led Louisburg with 13 kills on the
night and Jacobs was second with 10. Moore and Riley Kallevig added nine and
eight, respectively.

Defensively, Ratliff-Becher led
the team with 13 digs and Riley Kallevig was right behind her with 12.
Sophomore setter Davis Guetterman also finished in double figures with 10 digs
and added 18 assists to her line as well.

Louisburg will try and build some momentum tonight when it travels to Fort Scott for a triangular with Girard. Matches are set to begin at 5 p.m.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association released its classifications for the 2019-20 school year, along with the football classifications for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

There were a few changes in both areas, but more so on the football side.

Football classifications are determined based on enrollment figures in ninth, 10th and 11th grade. Louisburg is still in 4A with 432 students and is toward the lower half of the classification.

Entering Class 4A beginning in the 2020 school year will be St. James Academy, Lansing and Great Bend, who have all moved down from Class 5A. Wamego also made the jump back in from Class 3A.

Goddard, Pittsburg and Spring Hill all saw their enrollment grow and will be moving up from 4A to 5A next year. Baldwin saw their enrollment decline and will move down to Class 3A in football the next two years.

In the rest of the sports, not much changed with regards to Class 4A for this year.

Enrollment figures for all grades in Louisburg this year is 573, which puts the school in the upper half of Class 4A. The biggest school is Buhler with 661 and Bishop Miege is the second biggest at 656 and Ottawa is third at 653.

Three schools will make the move up to Class 4A this year. Clay Center, Girard and Holton all saw their enrollment increase and will come back to 4A, while Osawatomie, Anderson County and Wichita-Trinity Academy will move out of 4A to 3A this year.

Louisburg’s Davis Guetterman (left) sets up teammate Carleigh Pritchard for a kill last week at home against Spring Hill.

In recent years, the Louisburg
volleyball team has experienced a lot of success, so whenever the Lady Cats go
on a losing streak it is unchartered territory at times.

However, in most seasons, the Lady
Cats won’t go through the type of schedule they have seen the last two weeks.
Whether is from ranked teams in bigger programs, or just bigger schools, Louisburg
has been tested early.

The Lady Cats’ woes continued last
week as it fell to the No. 7-ranked team in Class 6A, Mill Valley, 24-26,
25-18, 25-19 and 26-24, on Thursday in Louisburg. In their home opener on
Tuesday, the Lady Cats fell to the No. 3-ranked team in 5A, Spring Hill, in
four sets as well.

Louisburg has now lost five
matches in a row, dating back to the Lansing Invitational earlier this month,
and are 5-7 on the season. In all five matches, the Lady Cats have been without
senior starter Erin Lemke, who has been out with an injury.

“Losing five in a row is rough, but I feel like we’ve made some
big improvements over the past week,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “We
still have some areas we need to improve on and some areas we need to clean up,
but as a whole, the team played well against Mill Valley. They fought hard
until the last whistle.”

It was a good start for Louisburg
against Mill Valley as they were able to take the first set, but came up short
in the next two. The Lady Cats found themselves down 24-20 in the fourth, but
sophomore Rinny McMullen served four straight points to tie the set for
Louisburg, but Mill Valley won the next two volleys to take the set and the
match.

Juniors Alyse Moore and Carleigh
Pritchard were strong at the net with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while
seniors Liz Jacobs and Haley Cain each tallied seven.

McMullen and fellow setter Davis
Guetterman ran the team well as they finished with 21 and 15 assists,
respectively, and McMullen also added two aces in the match.

Defensively, the Lady Cats played
well at times as senior libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher led the way with a
team-high 20 digs, while senior Riley Kallevig finished with 11 and Guetterman
added 10. At the net, Pritchard led Louisburg with four blocks.

“I thought we played well for the
majority of the match,” Compliment said. “There wasn’t one or two single plays
that would have changed the outcome, but we did make a few mistakes that hurt
us at crucial times or in various times throughout the match. There was some
really good volleyball played against Mill Valley, which should hopefully
provide some needed confidence for the team.”

Against Spring Hill, the Lady Cats
had their second straight setback in the Frontier League as they fell 25-19,
25-22, 20-25 and 25-16.

Pritchard, the team’s middle
hitter, was a force at the net as she posted a team-high 17 kills and was one
three Lady Cat players to reach double figures in that department. Jacobs and
Cain both had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, and Kallevig finished with eight.

“During that first set, we just
had way too many unforced errors,” Compliment said. “Carleigh had a really big
night for us and played well. We talked to the girls about being vocal leaders
on the court and I thought Haley really stepped up as a leader for us.”

McMullen and Guetterman were responsible
for a lot of those big plays on the front row. McMullen finished with a
team-high 27 assists and Guetterman also had a big night with 18.

Pritchard was also a force defensively as she recorded six blocks, while Ratliff-Becher led the back row with 29 digs. Kallevig also added 18 in the loss.

In its 12 matches on the season, all
but three of them have been against teams in Class 5A or higher and five have
been against state-ranked opponents.

Louisburg will have a busy week
once again as it travels to Ottawa tonight for a Frontier League dual and then
will go to Fort Scott on Thursday for a triangular with Girard. The Lady Cats
will end it Saturday with the Louisburg Invitational.