The Missouri Boys Volleyball and Missouri State Lacrosse playoffs will crown champions this week with the semifinals and finals taking place starting Tuesday evening. This will be the last time the boys’ volleyball association will stage its state championships as it will become an official Missouri State High School Activities Association sport beginning next year.
The boys’ volleyball semifinals and finals will take place at Maryville University again this year with Class 3 playing their semifinals Tuesday evening and Class 4 having their semifinals Wednesday with the finals for both classes taking place Thursday night.
In Class 3, the No.1 seed Spartans of De Smet are continuing their outstanding season as they moved on to the semifinals by defeating Saxony Lutheran in straight sets 25-6, 25-14, and 25-17. They will take on St. Dominic who also advanced with a straight-set victory over Fort Zumwalt South 25-22, 26-24, and 25-20. The Spartans enter the final four with a record of 33-1 as Trent Massey leads the way for De Smet with 280 kills while Riley Massey has added 162 kills on the year. Tyler Zippay leads the Spartans’ attack with 797 assists. The Crusaders will take a 22-8-1 record into the semifinals as Luke Zelnis paces the St. Dominic attack with 438 kills while Cooper Chamblee has added 201 kills with Charlie Lafata dishing out 582 assists. This match will take place at 4:30 p.m.
In the second Class 3 semifinal, Whitfield moved on to the final four with a four-set win over St. Michael’s out of Kansas City 171-25, 25-17, 25-19, and 27-25. They will bring a 25-6-2 mark into the semifinals and are led by Zach Kampen who has 274 kills while Maksim Serdotetskov has added 253 kills with Max Ott handing out 878 assists. They will face Webster Groves who were a straight-sets winner over Affton 25-17, 26-24, and 25-23. The Statesmen carry an 18-9-1 record as Aiden Whitemountain leads the charge with 211 Kills while Ezra Maupin has added 171 kills on the year with Jack Hendrix dishing out 791 assists.
In Class 4, Vianney advanced to the semifinals after upsetting top seed Howell Central in five sets 27-29, 25-21, 19-25, 25-17, and 15-12. The Golden Griffins have a 16-12-2 record on the season and will look for Sam Dore to lead the way as he has 142 kills on the year while Ben Villard has dished out 707 assists on the season. They will face off against Lafayette who defeated Marquette in straight sets 25-21, 25-13, and 25-17. The Lancers are 24-6 on the year as Matt Haefner paces the attack with 299 kills while Cooper Williams has added 183 kills this season with Ethan Tran handing out 484 assists.
In the second semifinal of the evening, Parkway South needed four sets to defeat Rockhurst 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, and 26-24 in the quarterfinals. The Patriots are 20-10-1 on the year and will rely on Nathan Barton the led the offense as he has 292 kills this season while Aiden McLaughlin has chipped in with 190 kills with Rishi Kancharla handing out 839 helpers. They will face St. Louis University High School who advanced after beating Chaminade in four sets 18-25, 25-18, 25-14, and 25-21. The Jr. Bills are 21-10-3 on the year and will showcase an even-balanced attack with Jack Krausz topping the team with 293 kills while Will Blaisdell had added 243 kills with Ethan Keutzer handed out 465 assists.
The Class 3 title game will take place Thursday at 4:30 p.m. while the Class 4 championship will take place at 7 p.m.
In the Missouri Boys Lacrosse semifinals, the top four seeds have advanced as top seed De Smet will host No. 4 seed Chaminade while No. 2 seed MICDS will look to defend their title as they play No. 3 seed SLUH Tuesday evening. The Rams are looking to win their third straight title and will look to Willy Carpenter to continue his outstanding season as he leads the team in goals with 32 while Mac Stephans and Holt Tipton both have 15 assists on the year.
The boys’ lacrosse finals will take place Friday evening.
In the girls’ lacrosse quarterfinals that will take place Tuesday afternoon, John Burroughs will face off against Marquette while Eureka will take on Summit. On the other side of the bracket, St. Joseph’s Academy will play MICDS with Lafayette taking on Cor Jesu. The semifinals will take place Thursday with the championship match happening Saturday.
Jim Powers has been covering prep sports in the St. Louis area for 15+ years and a part of the Missouri State High School Activities Association Championship Broadcasts for the past 11 years. Powers is also a part of the Fox 2 Verlo Mattress Prep Zone Friday nights at 10:10 during the football and basketball seasons. If you have a prep sports story, please contact Jim at japowers2421@yahoo.com. Follow Jim at @hssportscaravan
