Rams bring best record into Class 2 final four

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City volleyball team is trying to follow in the footsteps of the school's baseball team.

The Rams baseball players won the school's first team state title in May. That team suffered one loss all season.

The Rams volleyball team enters today's Class 2 state tournament with one loss and will try to bring home the school's first state title in a girls team sport.

"Now that we haven't had any more losses, we don't want to lose another game," junior Brooke Simpson said. "A lot of people say your state baseball team last year, they had one loss and they won. We're like, 'We know. We don't want to lose anymore.'"

Scott City (35-1-3) opens state tournament pool play against Ash Grove at 10 a.m. today at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

Entering the state tournament with one loss puts added pressure on the Rams. The other three teams in Class 2 have at least five losses. The Rams enter as the favorite, ranked No. 1 in the latest Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

"We have a bull's eye on our back," Scott City freshman Mikah Simpson said. "It's nice to know that everyone knows what they're coming up against. But it's also hard to maintain that status, that we're first in the state. We want to prove we're first in the state."

Scott City's lone loss came against Class 4 Lebanon in the B.A. Sports Classic early in the season. Scott City coach Haley Jennings thinks that loss helped her team during the season.

"It makes the girls realize we're not unbeatable," Jennings said. "But it also makes us not want to lose again. We went to the Crystal City tournament and the girls were like, 'We don't even want to lose a set.' ... I love that they have that mindset that we've had our one loss of the year. We don't want to do it again."

Ash Grove enters the final four with the second-best record at 25-5-4. Hermann is 27-8-2 and ranks fourth in the latest MHSVCA poll. The fourth team, Cole Camp, beat Bishop LeBlond in three games to reach the final four. Cole Camp is 20-10-5.

"The competition is going to be really good up there, so I'm pumped about that," Scott City junior Stephanie Essner said. "Our record is pretty good. Against good competition, we get excited."

The Rams enter with a young team. They use a seven-player rotation, and the only player who won't return next year is foreign exchange student Anna Laitinen. But that doesn't mean the team isn't hungry to win the title this year.

"If we don't make it, we're going to work twice as hard next year to go get it," Essner said.

Even though it's a young team, Jennings had a feeling early on that she had a special team. It didn't take long for the team to prove her right.

"As far as expectations, I always had a good feeling, but I never wanted the girls to know," Jennings said. "I didn't want to jinx anything. I think the girls had good feelings, too. I think they knew we had the ability and the talent, we just had to want it."