Leopold falls to defending state champ Winona

"Who's No. 1? We are," was chanted by the crowd of people that gathered to greet the team after Leopold's Class 1 title match against Winona on Saturday

After the chant, which was created years ago by beloved Leopold teacher Jenny Nenninger prior to a trip to the final four by the school's volleyball team, a player corrected a Leopold Spirit Leader saying the team was actually No. 2, to which he answered "You're No. 1 in our hearts."

Leopold fell just short of its goal to win the state title as it was defeated 25-20, 25-18 by Winona in the Class 1 championship game at the Show Me Center.

"Nobody wants to lose, but then you have to stop yourself and think, 'We just got second in the state in Class 1,' so there's nothing to be ashamed about, there's nothing to be sad about," Leopold coach Sandy Davis said. "We wanted to win, but still second in Class 1, in all the state of Missouri with my girls is just a great feeling."

The finish was the best for Leopold since its state title in 2002.

"It's just so rewarding of the fact that it's our last year, and we've achieved a goal that we wanted the entire time," senior setter Sydney Eeftink said. "Obviously we wanted first place, but it's better to be second place in the state of Missouri than to not even make it here at all."

Leopold led for most of the first set, but once Winona took a 17-16 lead Leopold never caught back up.

A pair of Leopold errors and two kills from Winona middle hitter Nola McAfee gave Winona a four-point lead and led to a Leopold timeout.

Leopold junior middle hitter Caitlin Petty got a kill coming out of the timeout and junior outside hitter Ashlyn Bucher cut Winona's lead to 21-19 with a kill.

That was the closest Leopold would get as McAfee recorded a block and a kill and Leopold committed two more errors, including one to end the set.

Saturday's match was much closer and more competitive than the teams' match in pool play on Friday, which was played after Leopold had already secured its spot in the title game.

Leopold setter Sydney Eeftink lunges to make a dig in the first game of the Wildcats’ 25-20, 25-18 loss to Winona in the Class 1 championship game of the Missouri High School Activities Association state volleyball tournament on Saturday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. (Adam Vogler)

"We were a little bit more aggressive," Davis said. "We were spot-serving better. We tried to keep the ball away from the big girls as well as we could. I'd say today we were just a little bit more aggressive in certain parts, so I think that was the difference."

The second set was tied 10 times and neither team took more than a two-point lead until Winona pulled ahead 17-14 on a Leopold hitting error.

Winona junior Rachel Holthaus and senior Nola McAfee combined for seven kills over Winona's final 11 points.

Leopold also committed two of its three serve errors occur during this stretch of the game.

"We expected them to give it to their two studs, which they did every time, and we just had to get our passes up, but it just didn't work out," junior Caitlin Petty said.

Petty led Leopold with 12 of the team's 22 kills.

"She's just a smart player," Davis said. "She sees the floor well, and she's aggressive and she places it. She's just a good, strong player."

Holthaus and McAfee had all 24 of Winona's kills in the match -- Holthaus hit .462 and finished with 13, and McAfee had 11.

Junior middle hitter Bailee Cope and Bucher each had three kills.

Leopold middle hitter Caitlin Petty reacts after having an attack blocked in the first game of the Wildcats’ 25-20, 25-18 loss to Winona in the Class 1 championship on Saturday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. (Adam Vogler)

"They're an amazing team, incredible team," Winona coach Francie McBride said about Leopold. "We were watching them yesterday in pool play and thinking, 'Wow, we're really going to have our work cut out for us,' and I think yesterday they didn't play as well against us in pool play, so we were expecting it to be a lot tougher today and it was. I mean, they gave us a battle. They're so scrappy. Their big girls are just amazing, and when they get ahold of the ball you just can't pick it up. They're a tough team."

Leopold's biggest struggle in pool play was getting a clean pass to the setter to give the hitters an opportunity to attack.

Passing and moving the ball away from the blocks of McAfee and Holthaus were Leopold's focuses heading into Saturday's game.

"I'd say our passing was just off a little bit today, but they still overcame a lot of things and I'm not going to complain about nothing these girls did because they have carried each other all year long and all season and the accomplishments they have has been amazing," Davis said. "Yeah, we probably could've passed better, we probably could've hit better, we probably could've served better, but I'm not taking anything away from them."

Leopold had three aces and three serve errors in the match. Eeftink had seven digs and Petty and senior Denai Arnzen had five digs apiece.

"We had a great season, and I'm glad that we got to end it at state," Petty said. "That's an awesome thing, and not every team gets to do that. We played very well throughout the whole season, and I'm just really thankful to end it like we did -- it could've been worse."