HAYS – They grew up playing volleyball together and have coached together but Saturday found sisters Natasha Dreher and Shannon Funk coaching against one another as their teams squared off in the finals of the Hays High School Maroon and Gold Invitational.
Dreher’s Monarchs, who are ranked fourth in Class 3A in the Kansas Volleyball Association preseason poll, held off Funk’s Indians 25-22, 18-25, 25-23 in a thrilling finale that had both fan bases standing in ovation at the end of the match.
The Monarchs (5-0), who return all but one player from a 33-7 team a year ago, went 3-0 in pool play before beating Salina Central 25-18, 25-6 in the semifinals.
TMP opened the tournament with a 25-11, 25-18 win over Wheatland-Grinnell who is ranked sixth in 1A Divison 2. They followed that up with a 25-18, 25-23 victory over Salina South then beat Colby 25-16, 25-23 to close out pool play.
Hays High (4-1) also went 3-0 in pool play defeating Bucklin, Scott City and Salina Central before knocking off Colby in the semifinals.
All-Tournament Team
Catherine Bowman, Bucklin
Carly Lang, Hays
McKenzie Maring, Salina Central
Emily Lane, TMP-Marian
Livia Schultz, Wheatland-Grinnell
Ella Rumford, Scott City
Brooklyn Schaffer, Hays
Stanley Kennedy, Colby
Kassidy Yost, TMP-Marian
Brianna Barnett
Most Outstanding Player: Emily Lane, TMP-Marian
Outstanding Defensive Player: Brooklyn Schaffer