St. Vincent set for battle with experienced Advance group

After a battle with Oak Ridge to win the Class 1 District 4 title, the road for the St. Vincent Indians only gets tougher.

The Indians are set to begin play in the Class 1 State Tournament at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26, when they battle with the defending state champion Advance Hornets.

“We have to put pressure on our opponents and try to keep them out of system,” Indians coach Darren Verseman said. “Advance is pretty darn good even out of system. We have to do more of the same.”

This is the third-straight appearance for St. Vincent in the state tournament after winning its third consecutive district title on Saturday over Oak Ridge.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Indians senior Emersyn Pitts said. “I think every year we get even more excited.”

Beating Advance (31-3-3) has been a tall task for nearly every team this season and Pitts knows to knock off the defending champs, it starts with mentality.

Part of the mental approach for Pitts and her fellow seniors is knowing every postseason game could be their last game.

“I feel like that pushes us even harder,” Pitts said. “Like, if there’s a ball you go even if you don’t think you can get it.”

That motivation, coupled with the success the Indians have had on the defensive side of the ball will be key for the Indians to have a chance to knock off the Hornets.

“We have to keep doing what we’re doing on defense,” Pitts said. “We have to keep the motivation to go for every single ball.”

Pitts has played a big role in the last three district titles for the Indians and she still remembers the feeling from her freshman year of losing to Saxony Lutheran in the district title game.

“Losing really put us down,” Pitts said. “The next year we came out really strong and ever since we’ve just kept going and going and we just want to win every year.”

On the flip side, the Hornets come into the matchup having won eight-straight district titles and four of those years (2022, 2020, 2019 and 2018) the Hornets have won the state title.

Advance knocked off Leopold in three sets to earn its eighth consecutive district title.

The Hornets and Indians are set to do battle at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26 at Advance High School.