Maize South volleyball is 12-1 and chasing the program's first state championship, according to the Kansas Volleyball Association's Week 2 poll released Wednesday, Sept. 16. The Mavericks sit at No. 3 in Class 5A with five college-bound players on the roster.

Defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas holds the top spot at 8-1. Aquinas won the 2025 Class 5A title. Maize South finished third at that tournament and returns a large majority of last year's roster.

Head coach Alexis Head told Catch It Kansas the team's chemistry sets this group apart. "Everyone is a pretty cohesive unit and they get along which is great for a group of teenage girls," Head said. "It's been a lot of fun to watch them continue to grow together."

Senior hitter Bella Cook, an Iowa State commit, and senior setter Autumn Popp, committed to Wichita State, anchor the lineup. Two more players have signed at the college level: Addie Davee to Nebraska-Kearney and Kendyll Nash to Pittsburg State, according to Fusion by OneMaize Media.

That depth showed on Tuesday, Sept. 8, when Maize South swept Derby 25-10, 25-11 and beat Maize 25-4, 25-14 at a home triangular, the Derby Informer reported. Neither opponent won more than 14 points in a set.

Cook told Catch It Kansas the Mavericks cannot afford complacency, saying the team has to show up ready to compete every match regardless of its ranking.

Popp said she is eager to face Aquinas during the regular season and called the team's ambition a driving force behind its focus this year. "Being ambitious is a big part in why we're so competitive and laser focused this year," Popp said.

The title pursuit is nothing new for the program. In a September 2023 Catch It Kansas feature, Head described her players pointing to the school's empty state championship wall. "They want to be that team that won the state championship," Head said at the time.

Three years later, the wall is still bare. Maize South finished third in both 2023 and 2025.

Maize South plays at the Maize Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19.