LARNED — For the second straight year, Larned High’s volleyball team is an underdog and underrated team that few outsiders would expect to qualify for the Class 4A-Division II state tournament.
The Indians upset Smoky Valley to qualify for the state tournament for the first time in school history last year. Larned enters Saturday’s home volleyball substate with a 7-28 record after competing in the rugged Central Kansas League.
“I’ve said all along that this team is not reflected in our record,” said Larned High coach Paul Deveaux. “They need to rally together in order to achieve something that not many people believe we can do this year.”
Larned starters will be Maci Perez, Alysa Byrum, Courtney Detherage, Kelsey Parr, Allyson Aldrich, and Kaitlyn Nolde with Erin Smith anchoring a fulltime libero position.  
Subs will be Kaitlyn Finger, Alex Quinn, Jessica Gobin, Aarika Bright, and Mattie Glover.
Deveaux is hopeful that the underdog role will work for the second year in a row when the Indians meet Hays-Thomas More Prep (20-14) at 2 p.m. Saturday.  Concordia and Smoky Valley play in the other semifinal.
“We beat TMP Sept. 11 and played one of our best and most emotional games all season,” he said. “If we play like that we did then, and when we rallied back against Haven, there will be no stopping us.”
Deveaux expects Smoky Valley and Concordia to be a close match. The Vikings have swept the Indians this season.
“Both Smoky Valley matches have been fairly close and we’ve adjusted since then,” he said. “We saw Concordia last summer in a tournament in Abilene. It’ll be good to have played them already.”  
The Indians lost to Kingman and Nickerson Oct. 14.
“After the last regular season match we were right back in the gym working on defensive strategy as well as offensive flow,” he said. “What I mean is staying in sync for longer than just one play over the net and being able to transition right back into offense after a defensive play which seemed to be a trouble spot for us.”
Deveaux said he’s focused on building on a strong rotation that seemed to work down the stretch.  
“We’re right there and poised to make a nice run at substate,” he said. “I’ve made a couple of minor adjustments, but losing three out of the last four by a combined six to eight points each.
“I’ve changed practices up a bit to be more competitive to help us find that drive to push to the end, going after every point and finding a way to pull out those close victories.  Not going to lie either, I’ve consulted a few other high school coaches as well as college coaches for pointers and drills to try and give my team every possible edge.”
Deveaux also has worked on the mental side of the equation.
“We’ve had good heart-to-heart meetings with the team focusing them on believing in themselves and each other in order to achieve greatness,” he said. “In addition, we all went to a volleyball game at Barton County as a bit of a team bonding this past Monday. “
The Indians are a decided underdog. But Deveaux knows there is a chance if the Indians play their best and take advantage of some breaks on their homecourt.
“If we maintain our defensive positioning, work on covering tips and continue to double block in the middle (a strategy we added), and avoid mental mistakes — we will go back to state this year.”