After the Missouri Class 4 volleyball Sectional tournament on Oct. 29, the Lafayette girls volleyball team is advancing to State this Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. in Cape Girardeau.
This is Lafayette’s second quarterfinal win since 2007.
The Lancers were able to advance after a 25-6, 25-21 game against Kirkwood, who earlier defeated the top-ranked St. Joseph. The Lancers got 14 consecutive points against Kirkwood, which is unusual for rally scoring.
Senior Grace Kiely is optimistic about the upcoming games.
“We’ve been doing a lot of drills playing from behind, and if we don’t come back, we have to do walls, so lots of running,” Kiely said. “We’ve been preparing our mental game as well. We’ll find a quiet spot before games and visualize.”
Varsity volleyball coach Steve Burkard is getting the team ready for the games.
“Going to State is an awesome experience,” Burkard said. “We have gone back to basics and focused on our strengths. Our team chemistry is outstanding.”
Junior Makenzie Henning is also ready for the competition that awaits them.
“We’ve been doing a lot of team bonding and mental activities to prepare for the games. This is what we’ve been practicing for,” Henning said. “We have a good chance [of winning state].”
When asked how the team is reacting to St. Joe’s not making it to State, Henning said, “It’s awesome. They’ve been our biggest competition, so we have some pressure off our backs, but we still want to show them up.”
The Lancers will be joined with final four Francis Howell (32-4-1), currently ranked second, Lee’s Summit West (29-4), currently ranked sixth and Ozark (30-8-1), currently ranked 12th in a round robin style tournament.
“We play Ozark first,” Kiely said. “Then Francis Howell, who has a similar record to us; a couple losses here and there. Then Lee’s Summit West, who we’ve actually played before. We lost in two very close matches.”
Kiley mentioned the team also makes sure to have fun as well.
“We have a dance party before every game. We love dancing and listening to music,” Kiely said.
“We are all really excited and proud to be one of the teams in the final four,” Burkard said.
