The closer the state volleyball tournament gets, the better the St. Pius X volleyball team looks.
After dismantling both Jefferson and Saxony Lutheran in straight sets to win the Class 2 District 3 championship on Wednesday, the Lancers wasted no time on Saturday at Vashon in dispatching Malden 25-8, 25-11 in the sectionals and Bloomfield 25-11, 25-13 in the quarterfinals.
The defending Class 2 champions, who have won 14 straight matches and are 24-8-1, travel to the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau on Friday to compete in pool play against Strafford (34-4-1), St. Michael the Archangel (18-14-2) and Hermann (29-6-1), which the Lancers bettered in two sets in last year’s state final.
The Lancers and Bearcats have a long history of battling for the state crown. Before St. Pius got the best of them in last year’s championship, the Bearcats had beaten the Lancers in the state finals in 2010 and 2013.
Last season, the Lancers relied on Jena Otec to break the will of other teams. This season, St. Pius can boast two of the best middle hitters in the state in seniors Kaylee Portell and Emma Grimshaw. Every time Portell smashes the ball for a kill, she winds up and pumps her fist in excitement as the rest of her teammates on the court collapse around her.
“We are family orientated and very close,” Portell said. “So we always celebrate no matter who gets the hit.”
“If we had a player of the game, it would be Kaylee,” St. Pius head coach Shannon Leftridge said after the quarterfinal match. “She had hit a plateau and we’ve been working on her speed and hitting a variety of different sets.”
Against Bloomfield, Portell had seven kills and four blocks. Grimshaw led the Lancers with nine kills and 16 attacks.
“It’s not by accident,” Leftridge said. “Speed works. Speed wins. And we’re blessed to have two middles that tall in Class 2.”
Senior setter Carley Nicholson had 30 assists against Malden and 26 against Bloomfield.
“Carley’s phenomenal. We couldn’t ask for a better setter,” Portell said.
The St. Pius serve proved deadly as the Lancers had 16 aces in the two matches on Saturday.
Despite the team’s success, Leftridge said they always stress the basics in practice.
“We always go back to fundamentals,” she said. “We work on serve receive. We go back to basics every time we win a championship.’
The results are obvious when Grimshaw and Portell start raining down terror with vicious spikes.
“When I was watching Bloomfield warm up, I could see they had talent,” Leftridge said. “But we had them so rattled. We intimidated at the net and it worked in our favor.”
Grimshaw said her teammates feed off each other’s energy on the court.
“We always try to be as loud and obnoxious as we can because it does get into our opponents’ heads,” Grimshaw said.
“If we had not played our best game, we would have lost (to Bloomfield). They had a good defense and hitters. Because we’re so loud and intense, we got into their heads.”