St. Pius X sweeps Platte County, advances to Class 4 girls volleyball championship match
CAPE GIRARDEAU — The St. Pius X girls volleyball team didn't have its 'A' game in its Class 4 state semifinal match Wednesday, but its 'B' game was good enough.
St. Pius overcame 15 serving errors to sweep Platte County 25-18, 27-25, 25-22 at Show Me Center. The Lancers will play for their fourth state championship and first since 2017 at 4 p.m. Friday.
"We are literally just giving them 15 points," St. Pius coach Shannon Leftridge said. "It is a different atmosphere in here. It is big. You have a lot of room. I said, get back farther than you normally serve. Take your time. It does take a little time to adjust on to serving in this big arena, but no excuse. So that's definitely something that hopefully we will shake out the nerves (Thursday)."
Kate Sherry had 13 kills, Bennett Raterman had 10 and Hannah Leftridge put down eight more and had 10 digs for St. Pius (36-2-1), No. 1 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small school rankings. Elena Ruble had 36 assists
Karlee Riggs had 10 kills for Platte County (22-12-1).
St. Pius, which finished lost in the Class 4 state final last season, relied on its experience in both a second set comeback and by holding off a late rally by the Pirates in the third set.
"It definitely helps, because we've been here before," Hannah Leftridge said. "We're used to playing in a high intensity match like this."
St. Pius jumped out to a 21-14 lead in the third set, before Platte County mounted a desperate rally. A kill by Malin Cole and an ace by Sailor Bane cut the Lancers' lead to 22-20.
But a Harper Gass ace helped right the ship for St. Pius and a Raterman kill ended the 1-hour, 21-minute match.
"I feel like that's where our tough schedule has come in to play, you know, playing high-caliber teams, having to dig out, which we've had to do this year," Shannon Leftridge said. "And I think that, you know, our girls don't give up and they know that we can come from behind."
Lancers fast start
Hannah Leftridge sparked a 5-0 run to help St. Pius grab control of the first set. Leftridge put down three kills during the salvo as the Lancers took an 18-12 lead.
"I think I was just trying to go up and swing," Hannah Leftridge said. "Tipping wasn't really working. So just going up and swinging and keeping it away from the libero, because she was picking up it a lot."
Leftridge finished the frame with five kills, while Sherry added four more. Anne Makowski's third kill clinched the opener for St. Pius.
What a comeback
Platte County seemed poised to even the match with a 23-20 lead in the second set, but St. Pius answered with a 4-0 run. Hannah Leftridge got it started with a block and Sherry followed with a kill to swing the momentum the Lancers' way.
"Just coming together and unifying and trusting each other and just giving it our all," Ruble said.
An Ava Moffitt kill regained the advantage for the Pirates at 25-24, but the Lancers closed it out with a Makowski block and by taking advantage of a pair of hitting errors to take a 2-0 lead.
"I said we're not playing St Pius volleyball," Shannon Leftridge said. "I said, we can play bad and still beat teams. And I'm like, this is our last shot. You have today and tomorrow, and I don't want to go out, and I don't think they want to go out, playing average ball."
Playoff picture
St. Pius will play either Lutheran St. Charles (23-13) or Jefferson City (26-7) in the championship match.
