St. Vincent volleyball thrives with new additions and strong senior class

Tuesday's three-set sweep over Herculaneum at home was a celebration of a senior class who has been a key part of the most successful period of St. Vincent volleyball in a decade.

These seven seniors, including Brigid Sauer, who led the Indians with eight kills against Herculaneum on Oct. 1, have been around for the entirety of Darren Verseman's coaching tenure at St. Vincent. The group has been winning district championships since their freshmen seasons.

"They've been not only good competitors, but they've been good people," Verseman said. "In the grand scheme of things, that's the most important."

The Indians have won those three district titles despite not having a winning season. This time around, the Indians are 13-7-4 and are trending toward their fourth straight title with their first winning record since 2017.

"Our ball handling has been decent," Verseman said. "I'm happy with our back row. Sometimes we were a little bit erratic, but their willingness to play defense and scramble around and keep balls alive is really a big, big part of it. Our setting, we've been fighting with that a little bit because Haley Emmendorfer has been coming back from the knee surgery, and she's finally, as of last night, able to play. So hopefully maybe we can get her plug back in and get a little bit more consistency in our setting, and that will help our hitters a lot."

One of the reasons why, according to Verseman, is their size, an advantage unique to them that they get to exploit this season. A major component to that advantage is the addition of Kate and Brie Rubel, who transferred to St. Vincent after two years at Notre Dame.

"Both of them are really athletic, Verseman said. "Everybody notices Kate because she's big and she's playing way above the net and everything else, but Brie is just rock solid in every phase. There's an adage that says you put your best athlete at center, and when we were looking for center, I was like, 'You know what? I don't think it's any choice but to put you there because you're the best athlete we got.' It's not a position she particularly wants to play, but she's really going out of her way to embrace it and do a great job of it and she doesn't neglect any other phase of the game either. At the net, she's a good blocker, her hittings come around, and defensively, she's rock solid. They've been good teammates, they've blended in, there's been no issue there. I think that's huge."

The Indians previously had a good showing at the Dig For Life Tournament last month, winning the consolation side of the red division bracket. They will take part in the Perryville Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 5, a tournament that will serve as a measuring stick of the Indians' chances at a district fourpeat.

Among the teams in the tournament is Class 2 District 2 Tournament host Scott City, who improved to 8-5-2 after a home win over Charleston in straight sets (25-9, 25-9, 25-7). The Rams were led by Lilyan Landis' 11 kills, Ramsey Spinks' 21 assists, and Makenna Gentry's 11 aces.

"I'm putting a lot of stress on it in my mind," Verseman said. "I'm not telling them necessarily that but yeah it's really big. And it's good that we're back in that thing too because being that it's later in the season it's closer to districts."