Local rivals collide in historic volleyball match

For the first time since the Missouri High School Athletic Association declared boys’ volleyball an official sport, Saxony Lutheran and Notre Dame clashed on the court on Tuesday, April 2, at Notre Dame High School.

Saxony Lutheran defeated Notre Dame in four sets (25-17, 25-17, 19-25, 25-16) and have won every match so far to start the season 5-0.

“Notre Dame is always tough,” Saxony senior Luke Eggemeyer said. “We always have to work hard if we want to beat them. Just work hard, give max effort, and make them make the mistakes, not us.”

Eggemeyer has been playing volleyball since he was in the fifth grade and has been a part of the high school program since the start.

“I just like the sport a lot,” Eggemeyer said. “It’s fun playing with other kids and stuff and just having fun with my friends.”

Eggemeyer and Dalton Head are the only two seniors on the Crusaders squad and thus are looked upon to lead the preparation each day in a season where outside of their local rival, the entirety of their competition is against St. Louis schools with years of club experience.

“Every day at practice, we always work on serving,” Eggemeyer said, “which we still need to do. We also work on passing and setting. Hitting is rare because you can hit but you have to work on all that other stuff.”

Saxony Lutheran head coach Stephanie Brown said earlier in the season that while this is a new era for the sport and with it, a historic season, the day-to-day activities have not changed.

“Before it became MSHSAA sanctioned, the people in charge of boys volleyball tried to run it as if it was a MSHSAA sport. They still did districts, quarterfinals, and state, they still did all of the accolades for all districts and whatever,” Brown said. “So nothing's changed for us, we're just out here playing and just trying to do the best that we can do.”

Notre Dame has twice the seniors as Saxony but is also considered a young team and program.

“It’s been a really good experience being with all these guys,” Notre Dame senior Dominic Hamby said.

Notre Dame’s only win of the season came at home against St. Mary's South Side in four sets on March 18. The Bulldogs have only three home games left and over twice as many on the road.

Notre Dame head coach Andrea Burford said earlier in the season that there is a lot of value to having her young team play so many road games.

“Sometimes, we really play better when we go away. On the bus ride, you get a lot of that camaraderie with the team building that they do,” Burford said.

Notre Dame will host Bayless on April 10, while Saxony Lutheran travels to Clayton on April 11.