St. James Academy shoots for Kansas volleyball 4-peat

As they prepare to defend their third straight Kansas Class 4A state volleyball championship in November, the St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.) Thunder has been getting down and getting defensive.

Nancy Dorsey's volleyball team does have enough offensive swagger to carry the seventh-year school to one more state title. But for good measure the Thunder is making a living out of disheartening opposing offenses.

"It's frustrating for teams when they think they've knocked a ball down and we pick it up," senior Libero Sheridan Zarda said. "We take pride in our ability to not let anything touch the floor. It's up to the other team to find a way to knock the ball down and it's our job to keep the floor clean."

Just like it has all season, Dorsey's defense came to the forefront again last Saturday when the Thunder put an exclamation point on the 2011 season by knocking off Kansas Class 5A volleyball power Bishop Miege (Shawnee, Kan.) while swatting their way through the St. Joseph's Academy Tournament of Champions in St. Louis, Mo.



The five-match sweep secured St. James Academy's second tournament title of the season and gave the Thunder bragging rights over the Stags for the second time this season, allowing Dorsey's squad to get off to a 16-0 start and make a climb into the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Volleyball Rankings at No. 8.

Dorsey, 220-17 at St. James Academy, was particularly proud of one stat that stood out during the Thunder's tournament championship run.

"The girls had over 220 digs on the weekend," Dorsey said. "We played 11 sets over the weekend so that means we averaged over 20 digs per set. It was a great defensive weekend."

By competing in St. Louis, the Thunder fortified an already strong strength of schedule with wins over unranked but talented teams like Mercy (Louisville, Ky.), Bishop Kelly (Tulsa, Okla.), Cor Jesu Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) and the tournament hosts.

The Thunder opened the season with a 25-8, 25-9 win over Class 4A three-time defending state runner-up Topeka Hayden and then went on to claim the MO-KAN Volleyball Tournament championship in Lee's Summit with a two-game sweep of the Stags.

Up next for the Thunder are visits from Missouri power St. Teresa's Academy and Nebraska Class A three-time defending state champion Papillion-LaVista South, last season's Xcellent 25 national champion.



The latter border battle will more than likely pit two teams ranked nationally in the Top 10.

"We have to play consistently," Zarda said about the Oct. 5 match against Papillion-LaVista South. "We must not do anything that's over the top. We have to stay calm and play our game to the best of our ability. And we must not do anything that's out of our comfort zone."

In order to prepare her volleyball team for the rigors of the Thunder schedule, Dorsey runs what she calls college-esque practices. Long on hours and intense, Dorsey puts her squad through efficient, fast-paced workouts.

"I love playing for her," Zarda said. "She's very intense and I love that about her. Her practices are very intense. We're always doing something – you're never standing around at practice. You're always moving. We do a lot of scrimmaging, which is fun, and we do work on drills. But we mostly scrimmage and compete."

Dorsey, who is assisted by her husband Bryan and sister Jennifer Gile as well as Lindsay Hernandez, Bob Ehler and Kira Seik, brought just one season of head coaching experience to the job when she resurrected the Thunder volleyball program in 2005.

But that didn't seem to hinder a Thunder volleyball team that took on a freshman-only schedule during its inaugural season. Since that initial season Dorsey's squad has experienced nothing but success at the varsity level.



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The Thunder completed a 30-10 mark during the school's first season of varsity action and then made a deep run into the 4A state volleyball tournament before finishing as runner-up to Hayden in 2007. Dorsey and the Thunder prevailed over the Wildcats in the 4A finals in each of the next three seasons, running Dorsey's career state tournament record to 19-1.

As freshmen, sophomores and juniors, Zarda and the other five seniors on Dorsey's varsity roster produced a 129-6 record collectively and claimed three state titles along the way. St. James Academy has won at least 40 contests in each of the past four seasons.

"The kids here know we have high expectations of them," Dorsey said. "And they rise to the occasion. They're real smart volleyball players and they're good all-around players. They all do everything well, are hard working and they're tough."

Zarda, a two-time second-team all-state selection, is one of four starters returning for Dorsey in 2011. The 5-foot-6 senior has been credited with 166 digs so far this season.

Thunder setter Paige Brown returns as well after joining Zarda on the Kansas Volleyball Association's second-team all-state squad a year ago. The 5-7 senior has rounded up 105 digs on the year and has accumulated 320 assists and 21 kills.

Arianna Person is back on task on the outside after starting as a freshman there a year ago. The 5-8 sophomore is hitting .327 in Dorsey's 5-1 offense and has 97 kills so far and 88 digs. Middle hitter Katie Dulek, a 6-1 senior, is hitting .405 at this point in the season and has been credited with 76 kills, 33 blocks and 28 digs.



Although she wasn't considered a starter a year ago, Annie Reilly spent nearly as much time out on the court as Dorsey's four returning starters. The 5-9 senior outside hitter has swatted 116 kills and is hitting .315 for Dorsey this season. Reilly has also been credited with 30 service aces and 128 digs on the year.

Seniors Dallas Gardner and Kayla Guyot join the starting lineup for the first time this season and have fit in just fine for Dorsey. Gardner, a 5-9 right side hitter, is an all around performer having knocked down 47 kills and picked up 38 digs as well as claiming credit for 33 set assists and 18 service aces.

Guyot, a 5-11 middle blocker, has chalked up 81 kills in 2011, and has 10 digs and 28 blocks to her name. Sophomore middle blocker Brianna Lewis and junior defensive specialist Emily Tripp have also earned some playing time this season

Although really tall athletes don't often grace her roster, Dorsey said that St. James Academy's goals always remain the same.

"Obviously we're going to try and win state again," Dorsey said. "As a high school team I think that's what you want to do is win state. We're going for the four-peat and we want to be ranked pretty high. We want to be able to compete on a national level.

"It doesn't matter how big you are. We just have to play smart and play the court well. No one should be intimidated by anyone else in this game."