State volleyball

It's a pleasure to welcome players, coaches, parents and other fans to Cape Girardeau for the start of the Missouri High School Athletic Association Volleyball Championships.

When play begins today at the Show Me Center it will be the third consecutive year Cape Girardeau has hosted the tournament.

For one Southeast Missouri team, this weekend's matches will have a hometown feel. The Leopold Wildcats won a quarterfinal contest on Saturday to punch their ticket into the Class 1 final four. The team is joined by Santa Fe, Winona and Osceola in the division. Leopold (29-4-1) will play at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. today.

Leopold has a strong tradition when it comes to high school volleyball. The program has 24 district championships and has been in the final four eight times.

Southeast Missourian reporter Erin Unerstall wrote a story for Wednesday's edition about the program's success and how the school and community have rallied around the team. Leopold coach Sandy Davis graduated from the school and commented on the community support.

"It's very important, and it makes them proud. I've always told my girls, 'You represent your families, you represent me, you represent [the] school, but you also represent the community.' And when you say you're from Leopold, a lot of times the first thing they think of, 'You play volleyball and the volleyball program is amazing.' So that support, they feed off that and to have people come up that maybe have not talked to them all year or whatever to come up and you know, 'Hey, we've been following you.' It's just a great feeling for them as it was for me whenever I played."

It's neat to see a community rally around a team, and we expect Leopold will have a strong fan base at the Show Me Center.

Congratulations to each team on making it to this point, and we hope you enjoy your time in Cape Girardeau.