ST. JOHN — The No. 1-ranked St. John High School volleyball team earned the chance to defend its Class 1A Division-I state title on Saturday, winning its sub-state tournament.
The Lady Tigers made short work of Ashland, 25-9, 25-9, to advance to the final match against South Central, which is ranked No. 2 in the latest Kansas Volleyball Association poll.
“Teresa (Wade) did a good job attacking,” St. John head coach Trish Wade said. “Her and Morgan Osborne did a great job getting kills for us throughout the tournament. We went out there and did a good job executing our offense.
“Ashland didn’t hit as hard as South Central, but they had some off-speed stuff that can be hard to defend.”
Against South Central, the Lady Tigers started slow, but finished the sub-state’s No. 2 seed in two games, 25-14, 25-6.
“We made some weird, unlucky shots in the beginning,” Trish Wade said. “We had some bad passes. The first five balls were a little wonky, but we calmed down, got it out of our system and played our game.”
Macksville was beaten in the first round by Ashland, 25-17, 25-21.
St. John will travel to Hays for the state tournament on Friday.

CLASS 1A DIVISION-I SUB-STATE VOLLEYBALL
At St. John
Ashland 2, Macksville 0 (25-17, 25-21); Pretty Prairie 2, Fairfield 0 (25-16, 25-19); St. John 2, Ashland 0 (25-9, 25-9); South Central 2, Pretty Prairie 0 (25-12, 25-15); St. John 2, South Central 0 (25-14, 25-6)

Central Plains
bests Ellinwood
ELLINWOOD — Central Plains finished the season 25-14 after beating host Ellinwood at the 2A sub-state tournament on Saturday.
The Oilers beat the No. 6 seed in three close games, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23.
Central Plains lost in the second-round match against No. 2-seeded Kiowa County, 17-25, 25-5, 26-24.

CLASS 2A SUB-STATE VOLLEYBALL
At Ellinwood
Pratt-Skyline 2, Canton-Galva 0 (25-17, 25-22); Sterling 2, Inman 0 (25-18, 25-21); Kiowa County 2, Little River 0 (25-16, 25-16); Central Plains 2, Ellinwood 1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-23); Pratt-Skyline 2, Sterling 1 (14-25, 25-11, 25-22); Kiowa County 2, Central Plains 1 (17-25, 25-5, 26-24); Pratt-Skyline 2, Kiowa County 1 (25-27, 25-22, 25-22)