Preparing all season for this event, the Lady Indians volleyball has found themselves approaching state once again. Competing in sub-state on Saturday in Lawrence, the girls won their bracket thus earning a spot at state this Friday in Topeka.

The team’s first match was against neighboring rivals, Junction City. Keeping their opponents under 20 points, Manhattan won in a two-set match. The set scores were 25-17 and 25-19.

“That was a pretty easy game,” junior setter Kenzie Smith said. “We knew what we were coming into. We knew we had that one in the bag, we should’ve, and we did.”

Their second match that decided who will go to state was played against Wichita East. Their ending set scores were 25-20 and 25-19 with Manhattan winning both sets.

“I just think we played hard in both matches,” senior middle blocker Gigi McAtee said. “We finished, we struggled with that this year. We beat them both in two [sets].”

Despite the wins, there was some difficulty within the team.

“We had a lot of new younger girls who had never been to sub-state,” Smith said. “So, it was a lot of adjustments, changing into positions and just the environment. We’re really excited about going to state.”

Despite this, the team is optimistic about their chances of winning.

“I think we have a really good shot at making it to Saturday and just competing really well in this state tournament,” McAtee said. “We definitely got the side of the bracket we wanted without [Lawrence] Free State and Blue Valley West. So we really need to take advantage of that and play like we can on Friday.”

Manhattan’s first match will be against Garden City.

“We’ve never played [Garden City],” Smith said. “I feel like it’ll be different but I feel that we’ll take care of business with them. Our hardest [match] will probably be [Olathe North West]. Our seeding is alright. We’re six out of like eight, I think. It’s not terrible but it put us in a good position. Garden City is actually good, obviously, but they don’t have a good league. So I think we’re going to be okay when we’re in a good league.”