Friday Fast Break – HSSC – November 4, 2022

The Missouri State High School Activities Association State Volleyball championships started Thursday at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., with Lafayette, Incarnate Word, and Westminster advancing to the state title match Friday.

Lafayette will return to the title game for the first time since 2019 while Westminster kept their hopes alive of capturing the Class 4 title for the second year in a row. The Red Knights will look to avenge an earlier loss to the Wildcats in the All-St. Louis Class 4 final.

It is also the second week of the playoff in football on both sides of the river as the tournament was cut in half after last week’s action.

Let’s get caught up with a busy week in today’s Friday Fast Break.

Lafayette needed four sets to advance to the Class 5 championship match with a 3-1 win over Liberty North in the semifinals. The Lancers won the first two sets by scores of 25-11 and 25-17 before Liberty North grabbed the third set 25-23. The two teams went back and forth in the fourth set before Lafayette took control late to win the match 25-22. Maya Witherspoon led the Lancer attack with 21 kills while Caitlyn Little added 13 kills. Alyssa Nelson handed out 51 assists with Allison Risley earning 18 digs to pace Lafayette. The Lancers are looking to win their seventh state title and first since 2016. Lafayette will take on Kickapoo Friday at 10 a.m. in the championship match.

In the other Class 5 semifinal, St. Dominic dropped a five-set thriller to Kickapoo 3-2 and played in the third-place game, where they fell to Liberty North 3-1 to finish the season with the fourth-place trophy. Kickapoo grabbed the first set 25-17 before the Crusaders claimed the next two sets 25-22 and 25-17. The Lady Chiefs battled back to win the fourth set 25-23 and grabbed an early advantage in the final set and held on for a 15-10 match-clinching victory. Mikayla Robertson led the St. Dominic offense with 17 kills while Mark Kate Mulvaney racked up a double-double with 39 assists and 19 digs. Mandy Lawson had a game-high 28 digs for the Crusaders in the match.

Incarnate Word took control of their Class 4 semifinal early as the Red Knights won the first set 25-17. IWA then won the second set 25-18 and claimed the match with a 25-12 victory in the third set to advance to the title game for the first time since 2005. Tara Greenberry led the way for the Red Knights with 14 kills while Sammi Bergjans dished out 31 assists and Abby Fruend accounted for 15 digs.

Westminster clicked their ticket to the state title game for the second consecutive year by defeating Platte County 3-1 in the second Class 4 semifinal to set up the All-St. Louis championship game that is slated for Friday at 2 p.m. The Wildcats dropped the first set 25-19 and then rallied to win the final three sets 25-22, 25-20, and 25-14. Emma Fairchild paced the Wildcats with 16 kills while Alexis Frazier dished out 28 assists. Avery Stanfill led a trio of
Westminster players that had double-digit digs with 26 as the Wildcats will look to win their third state volleyball title.

The district semifinals take place in Missouri while second-round action in Illinois heats up on the football field this weekend as all the top-seeded district teams will take the field in hope of advancing to the finals next week.

Below is a complete listing of local games set for this weekend. All games are slated for Friday evening unless noted.

Class 6:
District 1
No. 4 Kirkwood at No. 1 CBC – 6 p.m.
No. 3 Seckman at No.2 Marquette – 7 p.m.

District 2
No. 5 De Smet at No.1 Troy – 7 p.m.
No. 6 Hazelwood Central at Rock Bridge – 7 p.m.

Class 5:
District 1
No. 4 Poplar Bluff at No. 1 Jackson – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Cape Central at No. 2 Oakville – 7 p.m.

District 2
No. 5 Parkway West at No. 1 Eureka – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Lafayette at No. 2 MICDS – Saturday – 1 p.m.

District 3
No. 4 Howell North at No. 1 Howell – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Fort Zumwalt North at No.2 Fort Zumwalt West – 7 p.m.

District 4
No. 4 Timberland at No. 1 Holt – 7 p.m.
No. 6 Battle at No. 2 Helias – 7 p.m.

Class 4:
District 1
No. 4 Farmington at No. 1 Hillsboro – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Festus at No. 2 North County – 7 p.m.

District 2
No. 4 Gateway at No. 1 St. Mary’s – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Union at No. 2 Summit – 7 p.m.

District 3
No. 5 Clayton at No. 1 Parkway Central – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Parkway North at No. 2 Vashon – 7 p.m.

District 4
No. 4 McCluer at No. 1 Hazelwood East – Saturday – 1 p.m.
No. 3 Fort Zumwalt East at No. 2 St. Dominic – 7 p.m.

Class 3:
District 1
No. 4 Kennett at No. 1 Valle Catholic – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Ste. Genevieve at No. 2 Park Hills Central – 7 p.m.

District 2
No. 5 Roosevelt at No. 1 Cardinal Ritter – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Herculaneum at No. 2 University City – Saturday – 1 p.m.

District 3
No. 5 Wright City at No. 1 St. Charles West – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Lutheran North at No. 2 Lutheran St. Charles – 7 p.m.

District 4
No. 5 St. James at No. 1 St. Clair – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Owensville at No. 2 Sullivan – 7 p.m.

Class 2
District 1
No. 5 John Burroughs at No. 1 New Madrid Central – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Priory at No. 2 Lift for Life – Saturday – 1 p.m.

District 2
No. 5 North Calloway at No. 1 Blair Oaks – 7 p.m.
No. 3 Borgia at No. 2 Hermann – 7 p.m.

Class 1
District 2
No. 4 St. Pius X (Festus) at No.1 Duchesne – 7 p.m.
No. 6 Louisiana at No. 2 Brentwood – 7 p.m.

Illinois Second-Round Playoff Schedule:

Class 2A:
No. 6 Red Bud at No. 14 Althoff Catholic – Saturday – 1 p.m.

Class 3A:
No. 1 Fairbury at No. 9 Roxana – Saturday – 2 p.m.

Class 4A:
No. 5 Breese Central at No. 4 Rochester – Saturday – 4:30 p.m.
No. 2 Sacred Heart-Griffin at No. 10 Waterloo – Saturday – 5 p.m.

Class 5A:
No. 7 Mascoutah at No. 2 Highland – Saturday – 2 p.m.

Class 6A:
No. 6 East St. Louis at No. 3 Normal West – Saturday – 1 p.m.

Class 7A:
No. 8 Collinsville at No. 24 Chicago Brother Rice – Saturday – 6 p.m.

Class 8A:
No. 6 Loyola Academy at No. 22 Edwardsville – Saturday – 1 p.m.