The Holton volleyball team is headed back to the 4A State Tournament in Hutchinson for the second straight season. The Wildcats had won 10 consecutive matches to earn the four seed and host Sub-State, and Saturday beat Wamego 2-0 and then pulled off a incredible rally to top Chanute 2-1 in the championship match.
Holton had pretty easy work defeating Wamego 25-23 and 25-16 and after a break, came out strong to top Chanute 25-18. However, the Blue Comets broke a 13-13 tie in the second set and never gave up the lead in route to a 25-21 win. Chanute carried that momentum into the third game and took a dominate 9-2 advantage, including a trio of aces. However following a Holton timeout, the team led by five strong seniors began the comeback. Chanute called timeout still leading 10-8, but the Wildcat run continued and was capped when Holton took a 12-10 lead scoring 10 of 11 points. The Cats led by as many as four at 17-13, but Chanute came back to tie the game at 22 all before Holton scored the final three points.
Holton played all 11 of their varsity girls and improved to 29-11 on the season. This will be their fourth state appearance in the last eight years ('17, '19, '23) and the Wildcats will try to make it out of pool play for the first time since 2011 after going 1-2 last year in Hutchinson. Holton looks to be the #5 seed this year and will play on Friday morning in Hutch.
|