By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Great Bend High School volleyball coach Shelly Duvall had her hands full Saturday with the pressure of winning a third-straight Western Athletic Conference championship and trying to secure home-court advantage for sub-state play. Then she had something else in her hands: Alex Mayers’ teeth. The Panthers bumped their win streak to 15 matches, winning the WAC title and securing a sub-state at GBHS next Saturday.
“These girls have worked so hard this season to perfect their game on the court,” Duvall said. “They have taken everything they learned from playing some of the top-seeded teams in the state and translated it all into their game plan. We now know what is needed to compete with the best. They aren't afraid of a battle and won't back down to anyone.”
Great Bend opened the tournament with a 25-9, 25-9 win against Dodge City. The Panthers needed three sets to get by Garden City, avenging an earlier 2-0 loss to the Buffs at the start of the season. After downing Hays in two sets, Great Bend battled some adversity to survive Liberal 25-17, 25-27, 25-16 for the WAC title.
"Alex Mayers laid it all on the line during our final match of the day,” Duvall said. “I have seen a lot of things happen during a match, but nothing like this. Alex went for a ball that was going out of bounds off of a dig from one of her teammates. She was determined to make sure that ball stayed playable. In the process, she slammed her jaw into the floor, chipping both of her front two teeth.
“We stopped play, and I literally picked up her teeth from the floor, and she looked at me and said, ‘Did I save the ball?’ I had to smile because, through the blood in her nose and chipped teeth, all she was worried about was making the big play for her team. Our trainer checked her over, and within a couple of points, she was begging to go back onto the court. The best part was seeing her get the final kill against Liberal. Talk about a true competitor!”
The junior Mayers was huge in the finale, leading the Panthers with 11 kills. Sophomore Mikala Minton added nine kills. Freshman Jaya Stroup led the defense at the net with three blocks. Minton and Mayers split 29 digs in the back row, with senior Ava Kaiser added 12, and senior Kimmy Hofflinger finishing with eight. Junior Kya Behr 30 assists to the 2,000 career assists she celebrated earlier in the week.
“Kya hit a major milestone with 2,000 career set assists, and she's only a junior,” Duvall said. “It's awesome to see something like this happen because without an entire team, goals like this are hard to accomplish, and she is the first one to credit those who helped her reach it. It will be fun to see where that number is when she finishes her senior season.”
After two record-setting seasons, Great Bend opened the 2026 campaign at 9-4 before losing five-straight matches to some of the top teams in the state. Battle-tested, the Panthers take a 25-9 record into the postseason.
“As a team, we sat down and set three goals for each WAC matchup,” Duvall said. “Before we stepped on the court, we reviewed those team goals so they were fresh in the girls' minds. We were prepared to battle each team, one match at a time.”
The Panthers enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed in Class 5A West behind Bishop Carroll (35-1) and Maize South (33-4). KSHSAA will release full sub-state brackets on Monday.