By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The hype has been real in Hoisington. Sofia Simic's reputation proceeded her before her first varsity match as a freshman last year. Now a sophomore, Simic has helped the Lady Cardinals to a 35-4 record and the No. 7 ranking in the always-tough Class 3A. In Monday's regional action at the Activity Center, Simic aced 13 serves in three matches to break the all-class Kansas state record for aces in a season.
"I think this year I've gotten a lot stronger," she said. "I've grown a lot as a player, especially on my serving. I feel like I'm able to hit it a little bit harder just with age, growing up. I also think I've been able to place the ball more accurately. That's been a huge part of why I've gotten so many aces."
Simic entered Monday's regional with 138 aces. Sublette's Emily Lucas previously held the record with 139 aces in the 2008 season. Simic moved into the lead with three aces against Lyons, added one ace in three sets against Ellsworth, then tacked on nine more in the final two sets against Cimarron.
"I'd a say lot of it is mental, just preparing myself at the service line," She said. "I kind of see the floor, see what spots are open, then try to put the ball down."
And it's Simic making the calls. Unlike many high school coaches, Lady Cardinal coach Mykela Riedl does not instruct players where to serve the ball.
"I trust my girls to pick good spots," Riedl said. "We work on that in practice. Unless they absolutely want me to do it, I let the girls decide. We talk about it before the game who want to serve at, where we want to serve, and I let them go from there."
Lucas still holds the state record for aces in a match (15) and in a career (410). Simic put down 10 aces against Hill City on Oct. 3 and had a career-best 11 aces against Larned that same day and against St. John on Sept. 10.
With 73 aces as a freshman, Simic now has 224 aces in less than two seasons. With 595 kills, Simic also leads all-classes this year in Kansas. Ingalls junior Olivia Stein has 562 kills, and fellow Central Kansas League competitor Kendal Brueggen from Hesston has 506.
Hoisington opens substate play Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Activity Center against Smoky Valley.