No. 9 state-ranked 5A Great Bend cruised past Hillsboro 25-17, 25-13 and Emporia 25-19, 25-17 in a pair of competitive volleyball matches Thursday.

The well-balanced Panthers relied on its best defensive play to down Hillsboro and Emporia. Emporia proved to be the tightest match of the night.

*Our back row defense had their best night of the season," said Great Bend volleyball coach Shelly Duvall. "Ava Kaiser, Mikala Minton and Kimmie Hofflinger really controlled the game. Our serve receive was spot on and so was our defense. When our back row is on, we are really good. The ball was right to Kya Behr, who set perfectly to our hitters.

Against Emporia, All-Western Athletic Kya Behr delivered 44 assists, 11 serves, nine digs and seven winners. Cassie Ellegood contributed nine serves, seven winners and three blocks.

Ava Kaiser delivered 10 serves received and eight digs. Alex Mayers handled eight serves. Kara Feist had three blocks.

Against Hillsboro, Mayers led the attack with 12 serves received, 11 serves, eight digs and seven winners. Mikala Minton handled six serves received and had seven digs. Behr had 25 assists with seven digs. Cassie Ellegood delivered 11 winners and three blocks. Kimmie Hofflinger provided 16 serves.

*It was our best night of the season," Duvall said. ""We had struggled a little bit the last week on our passing. It felt sluggish at times. Tonight, we played like Panthers, a great night of volleyball. The girls have put in good reps at practice and worked on controlling the ball in different situations."

No. 3 Western 5A seed Great Bend (22-2) starts with Buhler and Wichita West at Saturday's El Dorado Tournament. 

GREAT BEND—Great Bend def. Hillsboro, 25-17, 25-13; Great Bend def. Emporia, 25-19, 25-17; Hillsboro def. Emporia, 18-25, 25-18, 25-23

HOISINGTON—Hoisington def. Hesston, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21; Hoisington def. SE Saline, 25-21, 25-17; Hesston def. SE Saline, 25-21, 25-14