Winona duo dominate during final four

The Winona volleyball team had anything but a balanced offensive attack.

It didn't matter because the hitting of junior middle hitter Rachel Holthaus and senior middle hitter Nola McAfee was more than enough to help Winona defend its Class 1 state title and lead the Wildcats to their third state title in school history.

"It means everything to me to help everybody and of course Nola and Erika [Chitwood] out there, they help lead us too," Holthaus said. "I just feel amazing to be part of such a great team."

The duo provided almost all of Winona's offense at the Class 1 final four.

"They feed off of each other so well. For the last three years, they've set each other and hit off of each other, so they kind of have this vibe going, and we were just praying that that would continue," Winona coach Francie McBride. "Our defense struggled a little bit, but once they got on we got the ball to the setter and good things are going to happen we know when we have Rachel on the front row to end the game. I mean that's exactly where we wanted her to be."

The two combined for 103 of Winona's 105 total kills during the state tournament.

Holthaus had 49 kills during six sets of pool play on Friday and McAfee had 30.

Holthaus had 13 kills and McAfee finished with 11 in the the Class 1 state championship game against Leopold on Saturday at the Show Me Center.

"They're just dominating," Davis said. "They're 6-0 and 6-2, so when you have those in the front line and they set to each other it's hard to stop them."

"You're always going to try to be focused because you have to try to take them out of their game," Davis said. "But they're hard to stop. They're hard to block. We dug actually some more than we did yesterday."

Leopold had 21 digs during its two games of pool play against Winona and in the championship game, but the passes on Saturday were more accurate and allowed Leopold to set up its own attack.

Part of that attack was Leopold junior outside hitter Bailee Cope.

"It's strange looking on the other side of the net and seeing her considering we played so many games this past winter together," Holthaus said.

Cope and Holthaus played together on the NSSC club volleyball team last year.

"It's awesome to watch it because I know that I had a part in both of their abilities and what they're doing," NSSC coach Carl Ritter said. "Both of them are great players, aggressive players and that's what club is all about. It's making them better players and getting them college looks and that's what's happening. Rachel's had I don't know how many D-1 colleges looking at her.

"As a club coach you've got to kind of try to stay neutral. You can't be rooting for one over the other. But when you've got club players on both teams and you've got a first-place finish in the state with some players that you coach and some second-place finishes, that says a lot for the players that we get on our club."

The 5-10 Cope wasn't intimidated by Holthaus and McAfee's larger stature and said she "just wanted to block [McAfee] so bad."

"I don't even look at it," Cope said. "I mean, so what if they're big? Hit around them."

Winona's plan for the championship game was to get Leopold's hitters to tip the ball as much as possible -- and for their attack to be just the opposite.

"No tipping whatsoever," Holthaus said. "I had to hit the ball every single time. I had to go out and swing hard for every point. If I get blocked, I get blocked -- just keep swinging every time."

"She's a really good player all-around," Cope said. "I don't think you can learn what she does, but if I try I think I'll eventually get there."