Lafayette’s boys volleyball team, third in the STLhighschoolsports.com rankings, made a big statement over the weekend by winning the first annual Lafayette Invitational tournament on April 28.

The Lancers defeated Caramel High School, the defending State champions from Indiana, 25-22 and 25-21 in the championship game to win a tournament loaded with powerhouse teams.

They started the day by going 0-3-1 in pool play, which included a loss to Caramel, and then had to win two playoff games to reach the semifinals against Marquette. Those two playoff game wins came against Francis Howell Central and Oakville, who went undefeated on the way to last year’s Missouri State championship.

“We started off pretty lackadaisical and really didn’t wake up until the playoffs started and once we woke up we were able to play to our full potential, which allowed us to beat the (43^rd) ranked team in the nation,” senior Luke Kreienkamp said.

In the championship match the Lancers were fueled by six kills from junior Alex Moll and a combined nine from seniors Brock Behrndt and Luke Kreienkamp, while senior Luke Robbe had 16 assists.

So far this season, the Lancers are 20-4-4 overall and boast a perfect 6-0 record in Conference play. Their next game will be a May 1 showdown with De Smet (22-1, 6-0), who beat them in the State quarterfinals last season.

“We have De Smet tomorrow and I think (the tournament) proves we can beat the better teams in the area,” Kreienkamp said, “we can’t make our own errors and we have to play mistake-free volleyball.”

That match is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Lafayette.