Kansas high school volleyball championships: Lansing Lions lay claim to state title

Lansing beat St. James Academy in two sets for the Kansas Class 5A state championship in high school volleyball on Saturday.

Last year’s runner-up, this time Lansing settled for nothing less than No. 1 in beating the Thunder 25-20, 25-22 for the school’s first volleyball state title since 2002, when the Lions won the Class 4A championship.

Lansing went on a big-time tear this season, finishing 38-1 after losing its opening match — 38 wins in a row to finish the season.

The Lions had advanced to the state final earlier Saturday with a 25-14, 25-18 win over Topeka-Seaman in the semifinals.

St. James had moved to the final with a hard-fought 25-23, 23-25, 26-24 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas; the Saints were two-time defending state champs. They finished third, later beating Seaman 25-18, 25-21.

The Class 6A semifinals were set to start 1 p.m. Saturday at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina, with the championship match to follow approximately 25 minutes after the semifinals end.

It’s the same setup for Class 4A at the Hutchinson Sports Arena on the Hutchinson Community College campus, where Bishop Miege was to play Ottawa and Andale was taking on Baldwin in semifinals that started at 1 p.m.

The Class 2A semifinals, between Smith Center and Ellinwood, and Garden Plain vs. Hillsboro, were at 1 p.m. in Dodge City.

Meanwhile, also on Saturday, Heritage Christian beat Cheney in straight sets, 25-22, 25-22, for the Class 3A championship at Hutch.

In the Class 1A-D1 championship match at Dodge City, Spearville beat Pretty Prairie 25-10, 24-26, 25-19.

And in the 1A-DII final at Emporia, Hanover claimed the title with a 25-18, 25-19 win against Lebo.

This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 12:45 PM.