Leopold's 4-2 day seals spot in state Class 1 final

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Leopold qualified for today's Class 1 state volleyball championship Friday by going 4-2 in the round-robin semifinals at the CMSU Multipurpose Building.

Leopold dropped its first game of the day 15-6 to undefeated Green Ridge, which it will meet in today's noon final. It then rebounded with a 15-8 win over Green Ridge, the first of four straight wins for the Wildcats that assured their place in the final.

In its other round-robin games, the Wildcats swept Eminence 15-6, 15-12, and split with Crest Ridge 15-2, 13-15.

"We started off slow, but after they went on, we started playing better," Leopold coach Leanne Huffman said. "We never did play like I know we can."

Leopold and Green Ridge came in with the best records of the four teams. Leopold entered with a 32-2-1 record while Green Ridge was 33-0. Eminence came in at 19-8-4 and Crest Ridge was 21-9-1.

Leopold was tied at 6-6 in its first game against Green Ridge but saw the Tigers go on a 9-0 run to win the game. Leopold led the second game from start to finish.

Holly Jansen led Leopold with 26 kills on the day while Courtney Wesbecher finished with 21 kills. Jennifer Vandeven dished out 52 assists and Tasha Thele had 22 digs.

Leopold, the 1997 state champion, will shoot for its second state title in six years today.

"We'll have to prepare ourselves for Saturday and have to zone out the crowd and everything else around us," Huffman said.