Doniphan West returns to state for the first time since just 2022, where the Mustangs placed third, having swept Pretty Praire in the third-place match. They will have another shot in 2024 to go even further, as tonight was an extremely successful and emotional day for the Mustangs. However, it was also emotional for the Horton Chargers to have their school’s historical volleyball season put to an end, as they have still not ever won a sub-state championship game. The emotion for Doniphan West runs even higher, though, when you realize that the head coach of the Mustangs, Carla Johnson, had both of her daughters, Courtney Johnson and Katie Johnson, on the team, and they both dominated the night. 

Doniphan West won the semi-final 2-1 against Maur Hill Mount Academy to move on to the sub-state championship. However, it was a rocky start for the Mustangs as they did drop set one 25-21. It was after the set one loss that the Mustangs were able to hold strong as they broke a 12-12 tie score in the second set and ran away, scoring fifteen of the last twenty points, winning set two 25-17. The Mustangs managed to gallop away in set three, starting 3-0, and despite things getting as close to 14-11 in the last set, Doniphan West didn’t break a sweat as they went on to score eleven of the last seventeen points to secure the semifinal with yet another 25-17 set win. 

The senior Katie Johnson had 21 kills against Maur Hill in the semi-final, and alongside her ringing up seven kills and an ace in the match against the Ravens was the junior Belle Smith. Smith, who also just ran 2A cross country at Central Heights in Richmond, Kansas, placed fifth, qualifying for state cross country with a time of 20:46.37. 

The stats kept rolling for the Mustangs as in the championship round, they took on the #8 ranked team in 2A, the Horton Chargers. Doniphan West won the first set by a close 27-25 tally, despite at one point leading 22-18, they still left an opportunity on the table for the Chargers. Set number two was majorly dominated by Horton as the Mustangs coughed up a lot of handling errors and service errors, losing set two 25-19. It came down to the final set, and a swift 7-3 start for the Mustangs forced the Chargers to use a timeout. Horton would draw the game within two by the next time out, this time being taken by the Lady Mustangs, as they were only up 19-17. Horton would score the first point after the timeout to draw it within one, but the Mustangs would roll off three straight to create the margin 22-18. Horton drew it close to 24-22, but the Mustangs had the final point off a kill to win the sub-state championship 2-1 over Horton. 

On the night, Katie Johnson had a total of 38 points, 37 of those points being kills. Belle Smith had 16 total kills on the night with a complimentary ace. The team had a total of 6 aces on the night, and over 63 total kills on the night (ALL STATS NOT APPROXIMATE). 

Doniphan West will look to win their first state championship title as they now compete in 2A state, heading to Dodge City next week with their total record of 24-12. 

**Picture Courtesy of @DoniphanW on X**