Park Hill’s Ava Daneff (#13) had 11 kills and 12 digs in the Lady Trojans’ postseason sweep over Park Hill South on Oct. 17.
KANSAS CITY – Meeting in the postseason for the first time since 2019, Park Hill (11-13-2) will have bragging rights over Park Hill South (7-25) after sweeping the cross-town rival in the Class 5 District 8 Volleyball Tournament at Park Hill High School on Oct. 17.
Although Park Hill South scored at least 20 points in all three sets, Park Hill pulled out the 3-0 win. This was the first time meeting in the postseason since MSHSAA changed the format to the best-of-five match.
In the last postseason matchup, Park Hill South came out with a 2-0 victory. Out of the five times the rivals have played each other since last year, Park Hill has come away with three tallies in the win column as each were sweeps.
The first set was competitive with neither team having more than a 2-point lead until Park Hill went on a run and led 11-5. Park Hill South eventually fought back to 17-15 but gave up the next three points.
The Lady Panthers called a timeout trailing 21-16 and Jocelyn Heckman scored on the ensuing play. The Lady Trojans responded with a kill by Emerson Sweet and an ace by Addyson Staples, making the score 23-17.
Park Hill South rallied off four consecutive points to bring set one within a point and Park Hill called a timeout, up 23-22. Park Hill South junior Lauren Smith set up Peyton Liming for a set-tying kill at 24, which was the first tie since 3-3.
The Lady Trojans didn’t let the pressure get to them, retaking the lead when Ava Daneff had a kill right inside the back line. Park Hill South hit the ball out-of-bounds on the next play and Park Hill won set one, 25-23.
The next two sets were also competitive with the Lady Trojans surviving. After taking a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 set two victory, Parker Kimball had the match winning kill in the third set that had a score of 25-22.
Park Hill South ended the fall with its least number of wins in more than 15 years but will have an experienced squad coming back. The Lady Panthers didn’t have a single senior who played in districts.
Liming led the match with 16 kills and was one of five Lady Panthers with an ace, in addition to 11 digs. Brynna Fox had a team-high 22 digs, while Claire Bingham dished out 17 assists and Avery DeMint tied with Park Hill senior Emily Jones with a match-high 19 assists.
Jones also had 10 digs, while Daneff had 11 kills and 12 digs. Emily Watson ended the night with 18 digs and Boston Wand had half of Park Hill’s blocks with two.
For the second consecutive season, Park Hill was eliminated by Liberty North (23-6) in the semifinals by a sweep. The Lady Trojans ran into the No. 2 seed at Liberty High School on Oct. 22.
Park Hill never scored 20 points in any of the three sets, ending each set with 18, 12 and 19 points, respectively. Kimball led the team with seven kills and Wand had four blocks in the Lady Trojans’ final match of the fall.