ARKANSAS CITY – State-ranked Maize High ended Great Bend’s volleyball season 25-19, 25-14 in a hard-fought substate match. Top-seed Pittsburg (35-5) beat Maize 27-25, 25-16 in the substate finals.
The Panthers (19-16) finished the match with senior DS Kendal Sell competing with returning juniors Camryn Dunekack, Trista Wilt, Baylee Beck, Baleigh Fry and Sidney Meitner. The Panthers played without senior standout Kate Warren and other players were battling nagging ailments.
“We went the entire season healthy and then got beat up pretty good the last week,” said Great Bend coach Kelsey Perry. “A lot of teams would have just emotionally hung it up. We lost senior MB Kate Warren to a broken ankle. Her replacement Sidney Meitner played with an injured thumb. Hitter Olivia Mull battled back issues all week. We couldn’t be prouder of how the team stepped up to fill gaps and try to cover.”
Baylee Beck had 16 digs. Alyssa Herter had 12 assists. Camryn Dunekack had six digs, five kills and a block.
“Olivia Mull and Sidney Meitner both gave great effort today,” Perry said. “Freshmen Alyssa Herter, Olivia Mull, and Jenna Mauler will bring a lot of experience back for us and that is exciting. We had an amazing group of ladies that worked hard every day. They fought through the adjustments of mixing freshmen in the lineup and a tough schedule to play their best the final stretch of the year. We have already circled sub-state on the calendar for 2017.”

MATCH STATS
Baylee Beck—16 digs; Camryn Dunekack--6 digs, 5 kills, block; Baleigh Fry—4 digs, 2 kills; Alyssa Herter—2 digs, 12 assists; Jenna Mauler—4 digs, 4 assists; Sidney Meitner—dig, 3 kills, stu