Buffs’ Roundup: Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019
GIRLS GOLF
The Garden City High School girls golf team played its best round of the season Thursday to propel themselves to the first-place finish at the Hutchinson Invitational.
The Lady Buffs had a team score of 346 to finish ahead of Hays High’s 350. Maize South was third at 355 and Andale fourth at 356.
Senior Alyssa McMillen shot a 1-over-par 73 to finish second individually behind Andale’s Morgan Brasser’s 3-under-par 69. The event was played at Carey Park Golf Course, which will be the site of the Oct. 21-22 Class 6A state tournament.
Grace Yi was next for the Buffs with an 86, followed by Ryann Warren with an 88, Rian Linenberger with a 99 to round out the four counting scores. Emma Kells had a 101 and Allie Sandoval a 105 to complete the team scores.
The Buffs, who have already clinched the WAC team title, will compete at the Great Bend Invitational on Tues., Oct. 8, and McMillen has repeated as the WAC individual champion.
After that, the Buffs will prepare for the Class 6A regional on Oct. 14 at Macdonald Park Golf Course in Wichita.
VOLLEYBALL
What was expected to be the toughest match of the first half of the season for the Lady Buffs volleyball was that and more on Thursday as they dropped their first match to unbeaten and Class 5A-ranked Maize South, 22-25, 16-25, at the Wichita Heights Quadrangular.
The Buffs rebounded to win their final two matches of the night, beating host Wichita Heights (25-15, 25-14) and Junction City (25-13, 25-17). The loss to Maize snapped a 14-match winning streak for coach Trista Bailey’s team, which entered the match ranked No. 4 in Class 6A by the Kansas Volleyball Coaches Association.
In the Maize South match, the Buffs suffered 12 hitting errors that proved costly while recording 23 kills as Reagan Karlin led the way with 12. Remi Vargas had 21 assists and Kelbi Richter 14 digs to lead in those two categories.
Against Heights, the Lady Buffs had 10 service aces, with Vargas and Karlin recording four and three, respectively. Karlin had 8 kills to pace the team. Vargas had 17 assists and Richter 10 digs. In the finale against Junction City, Allie Meng and Karlin each had 8 kills to lead the Buffs. Vargas had 19 assists while Richter (9), Karlin (8) and Vargas (6) were tops in kills.
Now 16-1 this season, the Lady Buffs will be on the road Saturday for perhaps their toughest assignment yet — the Lawrence Invitational which is a round-robin event against five other opponents.
The field includes host Lawrence High, the defending Class 6A state champions, Manhattan, Blue Valley, Olathe East, and Olathe Northwest. Blue Valley was ranked No. 1 in 6A in the recently-released state rankings.
BOYS SOCCER
The Garden City Buffaloes’ boys soccer team struggled against a potent Dodge City offense on Thursday, falling to the Red Demons, 5-0, at home at Buffalo Stadium.
Dodge City scored three first-half goals to take command and added two more scores in the final half. The Buffaloes managed just one shot on goal compared to 16 for the Red Demons.
The loss dropped the Buffs to 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the WAC. Dodge improves to 8-2 and 5-1. The Buffs will be back in action on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Liberal, and then will be home on Oct. 10 against Great Bend.
GIRLS TENNIS
The GCHS girls tennis team continued its busy week on Thursday, competing at the Hutchinson Invitational 5-team round-robin.
The Lady Buffs placed second behind host Hutchinson, with sophomore Sage Riggs going 4-0 in No. 2 singles to have the lone division winner for the day. Senior Carson Linenberger placed second at No. 1 singles, posting a 3-1 record.
In doubles, the No. 1 team of Hannah Kipp and Carole Galia placed second with a 3-1 record, losing only to Hutchinson in a tiebreaker. The No. 2 doubles team of Ashleigh Chappel and Brooke Ptacek took third, finishing 3-1 but dropping to third on percentage of points won.
The Lady Buffs are on the road Saturday, Oct. 5, at the McPherson Invitational, scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. start. On Monday, Oct. 7, the Lady Buffs will travel to Great Bend for the WAC Championship where they will defend their 2018 title. Start time is expected to be 1 p.m.
Garden City High School 