St. Vincent volleyball team secures spot in Class 1 title game

There won't be much momentum for the St. Vincent volleyball team as it heads into the Class 1 state volleyball championships on Saturday.

The Indians closed out pool play Friday at the Show Me Center by losing three consecutive sets but secured a spot in the title game regardless.

They finished 3-3 on the day to tie New Haven. They'd defeated the Shamrocks in the opening sets of pool play, which gives them the chance to compete with two-time defending state champion Winona at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Show Me Center.

"I'm sure they'll be excited, but they know that they've backed their way in it," St. Vincent coach Cindy Cissell said. "They didn't win to get there, they backed their way in it and somebody played a little bit worse than we did."

St. Vincent lost its last two sets of the day to Santa Fe, which had been winless prior to its defeat of the Indians.

The Chiefs defeated St. Vincent 25-20, 25-22.

"It's just really exciting to know that we still have a shot after that last game," St. Vincent junior outside hitter Katie Verseman said. "It was definitely a tough one."

Katie Verseman led the Indians with six kills against Santa Fe. Her sister, freshman middle hitter Jackie Verseman, chipped in four.

St. Vincent's Kellie L'Hote passes the ball during the Indians pool play match against Santa Fe Friday at the Show Me Center. St. Vincent lost both sets but advanced to the Class 1 title game on Saturday. (John Paul Halford)

The Indians had attack errors against the Chiefs. Santa Fe had 26 kills while the Indians finished with 15, their fewest in pool play.

"I think we just got really nervous about where we were going to end up, and I think we just kind of let that take over and didn't play our best," Katie Verseman said.

"We let one mistake lead to a couple more," she added.

St. Vincent led early in the second set and never trailed by more than five points against Santa Fe but were never able to gain the lead after tying it at 15.

"It was a stinky way (to end), but we got there," junior outside hitter Delia Lowman said.

The Indians split sets with Winona, winning the first 25-18 before falling 25-16.

St. Vincent's Delia Lowman tips the ball during a set against New Haven in pool play of the Class 1 state championships Friday at the Show Me Center. The Indians won 25-18, 25-18. (John Paul Halford)

"They got kind of flat, and that's something we need to not do when you get to this point -- and that's something I hadn't seen in quite a few weeks," Cissell said. "They know it, and even though they're young that's no excuse to come out playing like that. They know what they've got to do."

Cissell had no explanation why her players were sluggish after taking the first set from Winona.

"No, they weren't tired, and if I knew I'd have fixed it," Cissell said with a laugh.

The Indians broke a 6-6 tie in the first set against Winona with a kill by Katie Verseman.

St. Vincent then went on a 6-2 run that included another kill and a block from Katie Verseman and an ace by Jackie Verseman.

The Wildcats' senior middle hitter Rachel Holthaus cut the deficit to one point on three different occasions after that, including at 16-15, but the Indians kept Winona at bay.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second set until the Wildcats took a 16-12 lead on a service ace.

Winona, which finished the day 4-2, never led by fewer than four from that point.

The 6-foot Holthaus had 18 kills against St. Vincent. She had 54 of her team's 80 kills on the day.

"Yeah, she is (a good player), and if I had one I'd live and die on her, too," Cissell said. "But like I've been telling them all along: they've got one, we've got five, so we ought to outnumber the one."

Katie Verseman had nine kills against the Wildcats. Junior outside hitter Kassidy Kassel had eight, Jackie Verseman had seven and Lowman had five.

Lowman said that the team's block coverage will need to be better against the Wildcats on Saturday. St. Vincent and Winona each only mustered one solo block in their match Friday.

"We've really got to be in the right spot, be on our toes for defense -- we've always got to be moving," Katie Verseman said.

Verseman and Lowman both said they were unsure of what to expect entering pool play Friday, but that they felt like they belonged on that stage after they defeated New Haven 25-18, 25-18 to start the day.

The Indians only trailed once at 7-6 in the first set. They led by as much as 19-7 in the second set, but allowed the Shamrocks to pull within four points late before claiming the win.

Lowman led the Indians attack with six kills while Jackie and Katie Verseman added five and four, respectively.

Cissell's message for her team following pool play was simple: tomorrow's a new day and there's nothing they can do to change what happened Friday.

"There'll be nerves again tomorrow, but it helps that they split with Winona," Cissell said. "They know that they can beat them, and they know that when they lost to them that they didn't play very well. They're going to have to bring it tomorrow. New day tomorrow, so hopefully they'll be ready. And I think they will."