Nerves are no issue for experienced Advance VB at this point

There aren’t very many high school volleyball teams that give much thought to how they are playing in the month of November, as almost all of the teams throughout Missouri have concluded their seasons at this point. Having said that, the Advance High School program isn’t like most of its peers.

The Hornets will vie for their fifth MSHSAA Class 1 state championship in the past six seasons this weekend, beginning with a Friday semifinal against Galena (35-1-1) at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau at 6 p.m.

“I don’t think so,” veteran coach Erin Hoffman said of her team feeling their nerves. “Last year, we weren’t nervous at all, because nothing was expected of us.”

The Hornets won titles in 2018, 2019, and 2020, before falling to eventual state runner-up Gideon in the 2021 Quarterfinals. Perhaps, the rest of the state was under the misperception that the Advance run of dominance was finished, but if that were the case, then they were sadly mistaken.

In 2022, Advance did drop 10 of its 37 matches, but none in the postseason, as the Hornets reclaimed the state title with a 3-2 win over Miller in the championship match.

“This year,” Hoffman continued, “I don’t know if they are necessarily nervous. I think that they are just really anxious, and they just want to play.”

The Hornets (33-3-3) have won eight straight matches with their last defeats coming against Incarnate Word Academy and Jackson, two teams that won 29 matches apiece this fall, and claimed Class 4 and Class 5 District titles, respectively.

“They just want to play,” Hoffman said. “I’m sure they’ll get a little bit nervous, but it’s nothing. Now, it’s all icing on the cake. The best Class 1 teams in Missouri are about to play, and it is anybody’s ball game.”

The trip to the state tournament is the 11th in Hoffman’s career, and she is going for her sixth state title after winning the 2003 Class 1 championship with Bell City.

Galena is a newcomer to this stage of the tournament after winning District 9 titles each of the last two seasons.

The Bears fell to Miller last fall in the Sectional round but beat Thomas Jefferson Independent (3-1) and Jasper (3-2) leading up to Friday’s semifinal.

The other semifinal will pit Northwest (Hughesville) (30-2-2) against South Iron (21-9-4) on Friday at 6 p.m., as well.

The state championship match will be played on Saturday at 4 p.m. with the third-place match being held at 2 p.m.

Hoffman’s only child, daughter Lexi Hoffman, is one of four seniors on this year’s squad, along with Kaylee Cline, Meg Garner, and Abigail Kennedy.