St. Pius X is back atop the volleyball mountain after cruising past Hermann 25-10, 25-18 in the Class 2 championship Saturday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
It’s the Lancers’ second state title in volleyball; their first was in 2011. The championship was the culmination of four years of superbly played volleyball by seniors Shelby Meyer, Jena Otec and Eleanor Russell, who had been oh, so close, for three straight years.
“I’m ecstatic for this group of kids, especially the seniors who have worked so hard and had come so close to winning,” St. Pius head coach Dustin Cutts said. “I am very gratified that they get to leave (Cape) with a championship.”
St. Pius finished the season with a record of 34-4. They won all four matches they played in Cape and put to rest any doubts they couldn’t finish the job.
With 12 state titles, Hermann is one of the most decorated volleyball programs in the state. Their head coach, Linda Lampkin, had won 878 matches going into this year’s final four. Cutts said he knew the Bearcats had learned a lot about his team when they met Friday during pool play. The Lancers won that match in two sets.
“So we worked this morning on some different things,” Cutts said. “We knew we had tip shots open, some roll shots. We knew they were on their heels yesterday digging us. They dug a lot of balls. We knew we had to get them off balance and moving around the court.”
In the Class 2 third-place game earlier Saturday, Liberty (Mountain View) (30-7-2) rolled past St. Paul Lutheran (Concordia) (27-9-3) 25-22, 25-11.