Month: November 2017

Isolated thunderstorms possible Friday night

National Weather Service graphic

A cold front will move through the area Friday night, with scattered rain showers and isolated thunderstorms possible, according to the National Weather Service.

However, no severe weather is expected with the activity, according to forecasters.

Temperatures were close to freezing at 8 a.m. today, with a wind chill of 29, and will reach a high of 53 later today, the weather service said. A southeast wind will be 5 to 9 mph.

Tonight, there is a low of 46, with a slight chance of drizzle after 3 a.m., according to the weather service. There will be a south wind of 8 to 10 mph.

Friday, there is a chance of drizzle before noon, with a high near 66, the weather service said. A south southwest wind of 11 to 16 mph will gust as high as 24 map.

Friday night, there is a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, then a chance of storms after 8 p.m., according to the weather service. The low will be 44, with a west southwest wind of 8 to 13 mph becoming northwest 16 to 21 mph after midnight. Winds may gust as high as 29 mph. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is expected.

Saturday, there is a 20 percent chance of showers before noon, with a high near 50, the weather service said. It will be breezy, with a northwest wind of 18 to 23 mph, gusting as high as 32 mph.

Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 29, according to the weather service.

Sunday, it will be sunny with a high near 50, the weather service said.

Sunday night, the low will be around 38 with mostly clear skies, according to the weather service.

Monday, the high will be near 56 with sunny skies, the weather service said.

Monday night, skies will be partly cloudy with a low of 39, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, the high will be near 53 with mostly sunny skies, the weather service said.

Tuesday night, the low will be around 31, according to the weather service.

Wednesday, the high will be around 47, with mostly sunny skies, the weather service said.

KCKCC played one of nation’s toughest volleyball slates

Four sophomores who made major contributions to the KCKCC volleyball program the last two years were honored at this year’s Sophomore Night. They are, from left, Erin Reilly, Morgan Schwarz, Alissia Nevarez and Katie Heeter. (KCKCC photo by Blair Russell)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

For a look back at Kansas City Kansas Community College’s volleyball season, one needs to go no further than the final match for a microcosm of the 2017 season.

The No. 7 seed in the NJCAA regional playoffs, the Blue Devils had to play at No. 2 Highland. Beaten 25-15, 25-22 in the first two sets, the underdog Lady Blue Devils roared back for 25-23, 25-18 wins only to drop a 15-13 heartbreaker in the final.

Playing in arguably the toughest Division II conference in the country with one of the youngest teams, the Lady Blue Devils finished the season 13-15.

“At one point this season, seven teams in our conference were ranked in the Top 20 including our two national qualifiers, No. 4 Coffeyville and No. 8 Cowley,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno said. “Every one of our 15 losses were to teams ranked in the Top 20 when we played them and we took several of them to multiple sets.”

The good news is that eight Blue Devils will return next year although a lot of leadership will be lost by the departure of four sophomores – outside hitter Katie Heeter of Shawnee Mission South, who was named to the All-District second team; middle blockers Alissia Nevarez of Turner and Morgan Schwarz of Burlington, Texas, and Erin Reilly of Belton.

“Our sophomores were great leaders and a great contributing factor to our success,” Bruno said.

Randi Johnson, Brittney Winter and Kelsey Rankin head the list of returnees. A 6-0 middle blocker from Lee’s Summit, Johnson was named the All-District first team and All-Jayhawk second team. In the final match against Highland, Johnson had 23 kills and only five errors while Heeter and Winter each had 14 kills.

Johnson led in kills for the season with Heeter second and Winter third while Rankin finished fourth in assists per set in the conference despite the Blue Devils running a six-two format instead of a five-one. The Blue Devils also return both Liberos, Kelli Sleefe and Jaylie Thornton along with 6-3 Lauren Leavendusky and 5-10 Amanda Dickie on the right side and 5-8 setter Paige Dresslaer.

“Leavendusky did not get a lot of playing time but we’re looking forward to what our workouts in the spring will do,” Bruno said. “The same can be said for Amanda Dickie and Paige Dresslaer who worked very hard in the fall and will work very hard in the spring. We’ll also have Yvette Tamez from Texas, a sophomore who redshirted this season because of a knee injury. We’re excited to having her back.”

Bruno is still awaiting next year’s schedule but one thing is for certain, she will not shy away from tough competition (this year’s schedule included the No. 2, 4, 5 and 7 ranked teams).

“I was proud of the way our team battled this,” Bruno said. “We played a bunch of tough opponents and never backed off from tough competition. We know to compete with the caliber of the teams we have to play in our conference that we have to play quality teams outside the conference.”

T-Bones add infielder

Infielder Angel Rosa has signed for next season with the Kansas City T-Bones.

Rosa, a native of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, mostly recently played for Bridgeport in the Atlantic League. He had two home runs, 16 runs batted in and hit .266 in 66 games with Bridgeport.

Rosa played 44 games at second base and 13 at shortstop this past season. He also played three games at third base, and pitched in one game.

Rosa also played for four seasons in the Los Angeles Angels system in Anaheim. He was drafted in 2013 from Alcorn State University, Lorman, Mississippi.

Before playing at Alcorn State, Rosa attended the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. Rosa has a career .963 fielding percentage and has gone 46-for-60 in stolen bases.

Season tickets are on sale currently for 2018, and are available online at tbonesbaseball.com, by phone at 913-328-5618, and in person at the Providence Medical Center Box Office.