Notre Dame volleyball team takes lesson from loss

The Notre Dame boys volleyball team, in its first year of existence, got a good look Friday on where they would eventually like their program to be.

Notre Dame dropped a 25-15, 25-17 decision to Lafayette, a suburban St. Louis school that challenges for state championships year in and year out. While there are not currently enough boys volleyball teams in the state for Missouri State High School Activities Association to host a sanctioned state tournament, teams still complete in a season-ending tournament each year for the right to claim they are the best in the state.

For the host Bulldogs (7-6), Frid was a learning experience.

"They're very quick," Notre Dame coach Mark Moore said of the Lancers (19-2), who came into the contest ranked No. 5 in the state in Class 4. "That's something we haven't seen this year yet really, that quick of an offense. So it's a wake-up call for us."

Lafayette ran its offense to near-perfection, jumping to big early leads in both games on the strength of its dominant play at the net.

"We were excited about playing them," Moore said. "I wanted my boys to see what the top level of volleyball is like so we can see where we're striving to get to."

Lafayette had leads of 6-1, 11-3 and 17-5 in the first game before the Bulldogs were able to mount a mini-run and close within 18-11.

That's as close as they would get as the Lancers took advantage of three Notre Dame hitting errors down the stretch to close with a 7-4 run and win the game.

In the second game, Lafayette jumped out to leads of 6-1 and 11-3 and were never really threatened the rest of the way.

"They're definitely the quickest team we've played all year," Bulldogs junior hitter Rhett Simmons said. "Playing these better teams is definitely going to help us in the long run."

Notre DameÄôs Tyler Allen makes a dig during the first set of the Bulldogs' 25-15, 25-17 loss to the Lafayette Lancers Friday, April 25, at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Adam Vogler)

Simmons, the Bulldogs' leading hitter, was held to just two kills -- both tips over block attempts -- in the first game. He had four in the second game to finish with six.

Lafayette, meanwhile, totalled 13 kills in each game to finish with 26 for the match. Especially effective for the Lancers was the play of Ryan Mueller in the middle. Notre Dame simply had no answer for the Lancers' short sets to the 6-foot-5 Mueller, who was able to score four kills off those short sets and ended the match with a ace serve.

"Getting a block on their hitters was really difficult," Simmons said. "We haven't really trained for that. Most of the teams we've played haven't been that big. But we're working on it and we'll be there."

The Lancers consistently were able to set to either side or the middle with great efficiency, and Notre Dame senior John Fennewald agreed getting a block on Lafayette's hitters was difficult.

"You've just got to be prepared," Finnewald said. "They go so much faster that you don't really have time to process the play. You've just got to react more quickly. And we haven't played many teams like that, so it's really hard to adjust to a team that plays that quick."

Lafayette coach Doug Ell admitted his squad's experience -- the Lancers have seven seniors on their roster -- was an advantage, but he also came away impressed by what he saw from Notre Dame.

"Obviously, experience always helps," Ell said. "Most of our guys have four years of experience versus this being (Notre Dame's) first year, I thought (the Bulldogs) played very well, all things considered. They kept themselves in the game. We were able to obviously dictate the offense a little bit, but I was very impressed with where these guys are for a first-year program.

"My hat's off to them. They never folded, they never faltered, they kept playing hard, they were strong. They're going to be a team to look for in the future in the 3A division. I'm very impressed with them."

One sequence in the first game showed vividly the difference between a fledgling program and one that annually challenges for a state championship. Twice the Lancers set up their outside hitters, and twice the hustling Notre Dame defense was able to come up with tough digs to keep the ball alive. Undaunted, though, Lafayette was able to short set Mueller in the middle, and he emphatically pounded the ball uncontested for an easy kill and a 10-3 lead.

"Our guys aren't used to that quick of an offense and seeing them run that quick ball in the middle and getting up quick with that guy," Moore said. "That's something that we don't do a lot ourselves, so this is like our first experience seeing that quick of an offense."

Still, Finnewald was excited to compete against one of the state's best teams.

"It was a great opportunity to play a team like this," he said. "I think we played pretty well. We came out, played hard, and we lost the game, but we learned a lot. We improved a lot."