As she soared in for the kill, junior Addy Hemphill felt her heart skip a beat as two Baldwin defenders jumped up to block her attempt.
But after seeing the ball fall to the ground, Hemphill couldn’t help but let her emotions go.
“I was just bawling,” Hemphill said. “I was pretty emotional. It still doesn’t feel real.”
Hemphill’s point sealed the Cardinals’ victory over Baldwin in the final set of the championship round of the sub-state tournament Saturday. The team defeated Fort Scott in the first round by scores of 25-16 and 25-15, and then beat rival Baldwin in the championship round by scores of 25-11 and 25-22 to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2019.
Senior Rayah Foltz said qualifying for state has been a long time coming for the Cardinals.
“My sophomore and junior years, we lost in the first round [of sub-state],” Foltz said. “We haven’t qualified for state in like four years, and before that fourth year, we haven’t qualified for a long time. So, this is just huge for our school and everything. So, I’m excited.”
Head coach Brooke Hopper said it has been special watching this team grow from the beginning of the season to now qualifying for state.
“They’ve just really dug in, and they’ve seen the importance of playing together and really holding an even mental level of the game,” Hopper said. “So, just seeing them turn that corner, and then really hold it together today against a tough team and our rival there in the championship round, I mean, my mind is blown.”
With Saturday’s wins, Hopper will be taking her first team to state. The first-year Cardinals coach said this accomplishment means a lot to her.
“I’m not too shy about my past coaching years. I wouldn’t say I have the best coaching resume. If you look at my wins and losses, and the success in the postseason, you probably wouldn’t hire me,” Hopper said. “So, for me personally, for myself, it was a confidence boost. It was proof to myself that I am a good coach.”
The team’s wins against Fort Scott and Baldwin were a complete team effort as several members of the team stepped up and made plays in each match.
Senior Madison Karten said this was key to the team’s victories.
“We really showed up as a team and played as a team together,” she said. “Everybody making plays tonight really made us push through with a win.”
In the first set against Fort Scott, it took the team a few points to get going.
“We just had some jitters. I think we were a little bit nervous about hosting sub-state because it’s a big deal,” Hemphill said.
Once the Cardinals got things rolling though, they were hard to stop.
Karten and Hemphill combined for a block to send a spark through the gym and make the score 8-4 in the first set.
Then, it was the Cardinals’ serving that helped them close out the set. The team had aces from Foltz and seniors Ellie Suber and Parker Long to give the Cardinals the 25-16 win.
In the second set, the Cardinals got out to an 18-8 lead.
Karten and Suber combined for a block, Karten put down a monster spike, and senior Harper Andrews and junior Indigo Pruitt also combined for a block to help the team get out to the big lead.
The Tigers hung around, though, as they scored five straight points to make a late push, but Foltz stifled it with a kill to give the Cardinals the 25-15 win.
Foltz said the win over Fort Scott wasn’t pretty, but the team was happy to move on.
“We definitely could’ve played better that game,” Foltz said. “But obviously, if we didn’t get the win, we wouldn’t have been able to even play Baldwin. So, just knowing our standards, and we got the job done even though it wasn’t the greatest.”
The Cardinals had to sit and wait while Baldwin played Ottawa in the first round. Baldwin swept Ottawa 25-21 and 25-22.
Karten said the break between matches helped the team get hyped up for a match against their archrivals.
“We went to the locker room and talked about what the energy was going to be like, and then coming out with all that energy really helped,” Karten said.
The first set against the Bulldogs started close as things were tied up at five points. But the Cardinals sparked a scoring run that saw them score eight straight points and take a 13-5 lead.
Hemphill, Karten and Foltz each had kills during the streak.
The Cardinals kept charging forward once again with their serving. This time it was junior Camron McCormick who delivered three straight aces down the stretch of the set and helped the Cardinals get the 25-11 win.
Things were a lot closer in the second set. Hopper used one of her timeouts while the Cardinals were up 11-10 to stop some momentum from Baldwin early in the set.
Pruitt and Hemphill each had a kill to put the Cardinals up 18-15, but the Bulldogs would score four straight points to take the lead at 19-18.
The rest of the set was back-and-forth with each team trying to build some sort of momentum.
The Cardinals got a big point from Suber to give them a 23-22 lead. Then, Foltz delivered an ace to put the score at 24-22.
Then, Hemphill sent the Bulldogs packing with her thrilling play at the net.
“I’m just really excited, honestly, I don’t know what to feel at this moment,” Hemphill said after the match.
Hopper said she felt a weight lift off her shoulders after Hemphill ended the match.
“There was a lot of pressure going in today, and now I feel like the weight is off of us. We can relax just a little bit,” she said.
Even though the pressure on the team has been somewhat relieved, Hopper said the team needs to remain focused this week as they prepare for state.
“We have extended our season as far as it can possibly go, which is great, but if we are going, we might as well do the work and bring home a state title,” Hopper said. “So, we might as well show up and play ball.”
The last time the volleyball team won a state title was in 2006.
The state tournament starts Friday afternoon at Hutchinson Community College.
The Cardinals will start pool play at 3:30 p.m. Friday against No. 5 seed Andale. The team will then play No. 8 seed Bishop Miege at 5:30 p.m. and end the night against No. 1 seed Clearwater at 8:30 p.m.
See more reaction from Karten, Foltz, Hemphill and Hopper by watching the Kaw Valley State Bank post-game show.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]
We need your support so that our sports team can travel to state. To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
