GC Volleyball season ends at 6A State Tourney

What has been a special season for Garden City High School Volleyball came to an end on Friday during pool play at the KSHSAA Class 6A State Volleyball Championships at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina.

For the second straight season, the Buffaloes (33-4) had their season end on the first day. Despite winning their first match of the day against Lawrence-Free State, Garden City was denied playing in the Final Four on Saturday with tough losses to Blue Valley North and Blue Valley.

The Buffaloes, who were the top seed in the tournament, beat Free State, 25-13, 25-19, to pick up a win to start their tournament run. However, Blue Valley North would hand GC a 25-15, 25-21 setback to even their slate at 1-1.

Garden City needed to win their final match of the day against Blue Valley, and nearly rallied to do so. Blue Valley won the first set, 25-17, but Garden City battled back to force the second set to go beyond the 25-point mark. After some back-and-forth action, Blue Valley finally prevailed, 31-29, to end the Buffaloes' season.

Topeka-Washburn Rural will play Blue Valley North in one semifinal, while Blue Valley will face Gardner-Edgerton in the other semifinal.