St. Vincent VB storms back from 0-2 down to stun Jefferson in Class 2 state quarterfinals

FESTUS — The St. Vincent girls volleyball team’s state title hopes were hanging by a thread when they found themselves trailing Jefferson 18-24 late in the third set.

All the host Blue Jays needed to do was secure one final point to clinch a 3-0 sweep and advance.

The result, however, was a stunningly improbable comeback that rescued the Lady Indians’ championship aspirations and secured them a spot in the state semifinals.

St. Vincent dug deeper than it had all season long to pull away with an unforgettable 3-2 (15-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-11) victory in the 2024 MSHSAA Class 2 state quarterfinals at Jefferson High School on Saturday afternoon.

It was St. Vincent’s first state quarterfinal win since 2014, when the Lady Indians finished as Class 1 state runners-up.

“It's just amazing,” junior Kate Rubel said. “Like, we really came back. Everyone thought we were out of it and we came back. It almost doesn't even feel real.”

Jefferson (20-9), who defeated St. Vincent (22-8-5) 3-2 during the regular season, came out of the gate firing, as it raced to a 19-12 lead late in the first set. The Lady Indians could not close the gap as their miscues gradually continued to pile up before Jefferson libero Peyton Guffey recorded a set-clinching ace to hand the Blue Jays a 25-15 win.

Things continued to look shaky on the St. Vincent side early in Set 2 when Jefferson sprinted out to a 7-0 advantage. The Lady Indians showed grit, though, by responding with a huge run of their own that found themselves ahead 17-13 following a loud Allie Patrick kill. That’s until the momentum shifted back into the Blue Jays favor when they rattled off a set-winning 9-3 run that was capped off by a Halayna Loyd kill that landed right between two Lady Indians at the frontline.

With the match victory at its finger tips, Jefferson forged a 22-18 lead late in the third set before an errant St. Vincent serve and a Maggie Wrigley kill made it a match-point at 24-18. The situation forced a Lady Indians desperation timeout as chants of “talk it over!” echoed throughout the gymnasium from the Jefferson student section.

Then came the magic.

Under immense pressure, St. Vincent heroically answered with an emphatic 8-0 run to seal a come-from-behind 26-24 win. Along with several Jefferson errors, junior Clara Clifton recorded an ace, while senior Brigid Sauer and Rubel each had a kill to force a fourth set.

The Lady Indians kept the momentum on their side in Set 4 as they led for the vast majority of the frame. Up 24-18, Rubel recorded a kill before Sauer spiked the ball through the heart of the Jefferson frontline to comfortably win the set 25-18.

The fifth and final set was the moment of truth. St. Vincent wasted no time jumping out to a lead as head coach Darren Verseman’s squad led 6-3, inducing a Jefferson timeout. The short break appeared to benefit the home Blue Jays, though, as they responded with a 6-0 run before a Rubel kill halted the Jefferson lead at 9-7. The breaking point of the set, and the entire match, came when St. Vincent stormed on an epic 7-0 run that was capped by a solo block by Sauer to make it 13-9 and force a Jefferson timeout. Several points later, the energized St. Vincent bench and crowd rose to their feet before junior Alaina Cates finished off the set with a kill.

“On the third set, I was losing it a little bit,” Cates said. “And then the energy got back up. Everyone just worked together as one team. And the last point was just the last point. I don't think it was one person or two people. It was the entire team that did that for us. So, I'm proud of us. We've had a long season.”

When the final whistle sounded, the Lady Indians mobbed each other to celebrate on the court as their emotionally charged, rowdy fan section erupted with cheer.

After capturing its fourth straight district title and sweeping Portageville in the opening round of states on Thursday, St. Vincent fearlessly spoiled the Blue Jays’ road to their second Class 2 state title since 2022.

“This is probably the only thing I've ever wanted in my entire life,” an emotional Cates said. “We proved ourselves as a team and as a school. And I think we're gonna go far.”

St. Vincent has more work to do. The red-hot Lady Indians, who have now won eight straight matches dating back to early October, are two steps away from earning their first-ever state championship. St. Vincent will square off against Bishop LeBlond (31-3-1) at 6 p.m. next Friday, Nov. 8 at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

Rubel believes there isn’t a hotter team in the state right now than her Lady Indians, but said the key is to tune out all the extra emotion and do one thing: compete.

“It's a lot right now, but I know that the next practice we are all going to work our butts off,” Rubel said. “Every single day of next week we're going to get better and be ready.”