6 teams advance to MSHSAA volleyball state title matches

By Jim Powers | Photo by Jim Powers

Six teams punched their tickets to the Missouri State High School Activities Association volleyball championship matches Thursday afternoon at the Show Me Center. 

Class Four Semifinals

In the first matches of the day, Westminster Christian Academy knocked off Nerinx Hall 3-1 while Logan-Rogersville swept Pembroke Hill 3-0 to move on to the championship match Friday morning at 10 a.m.

WCA dropped the first set of the match to the Markers 28-26 but rallied to take the next three games by scores of 25-23, 25-22, and 25-20. Abby Siess paced the Wildcat offense with 13 kills while Alli Bishop chipped in with 11 strikes. Defensive specialist Avery Stanfill had an outstanding match with 17 digs. The Markers were led by Frannie LaVigne with 12 kills on 39 total attacks while Michaela Stuckey handed out 13 assists in the loss. Westminster improved to 25-8 on the year while Nernix Hall fell to 33-5.

Logan-Rogersville (23-11-1) grabbed the lead early in the first set and never looked back as the Wildcats swept Pembroke Hills 25-20, 25-20, and 25-11 to advance to the state title match. Zoe Reel had a team-high 14 kills to lead the Wildcats offense with Lauren Tyler giving out 27 assists on the afternoon. Gretel Robbins paced the Raiders (17-12-2) with 10 kills in the match and Katie Hargroves had 13 digs for Pembroke Hill. 

In the third-place match, the Raiders defeated Nerinx Hall 3-0.

Class Five Semifinals

Cor Jesu and Lee’s Summit West each swept their matches by scores of 3-0 Thursday afternoon to advance to the title game Friday at noon.

The Chargers limited St. Dominic (24-11-3) to a .085 attacking percentage en route to a 3-0 sweep of the Lady Crusaders. Cor Jesu (22-5-3) held on in the first set by a score of 25-22, but then won the next two games 25-13 and 25-17. Kaylie Drysdale led the Charger attack with 10 kills while Sidney Hogan dished out 22 assists. Mikayla Robertson had a team-high six kills for the Lady Crusaders while Ella Boeding had nine digs in the match.

Lee’s Summit West (23-11-1) took command of the match with a 25-20 first set victory and never looked back as LSW won the next two game 25-19 and 28-26. Sydney Handel paced the Titans offense with 20 kills on 35 total attacks for a .429 attack percentage. Lacey Higgins had 44 helpers to put herself in a tie for third on the all-time assists list in a match at the championship site. Lillian Dudley led the way for Rock Bridge (34-5) with 13 kills with Ella Swindel handing out 29 assists.

In the third-place game, St. Dominic defeated Rock Bridge 3-2 in an exciting five set match.

Class Three Semifinals

Blair Oaks and Strafford both needed four sets to advance to tomorrow’s state championship game. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

The Falcons (34-3) grabbed wins in the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 26-24 before Valle Catholic (31-5-3) extended the match with a 26-24 win in the third set. Blair Oaks closed out the match in the fourth set with a 25-10 victory. Autumn Bax took control of the Falcons offense with 26 kills on 54 attacks while Madilyn Rissmiller gave out 42 assists to help Blair Oaks to the victory. The Lady Warriors were paced by Hailey Weibrecht with 12 strikes with Adelyn Weiler and Makayla Joggerst each had 16 digs for Valle Catholic.

After Strafford (30-3-3) took the first set by a score of 25-21, Notre Dame de Sion stormed back to even the match with a 25-21 win in the second set. The Indians grabbed control of the game early in the third set and cruised to a 25-14 win and finished things in the fourth set by a score of 25-10. Christa Duffel led Strafford with a team-high 14 kills while Abby Chadwell had a double-double with 31 assists and 17 digs. Sophia Sexton paced The Storm (17-15) with a double-double of her own as she had 13 assists and 14 digs.

In the Third-Place match, Valle Catholic swept Notre Dame de Sion 3-0.