St. Vincent volleyball team to play for Class 1 state title

The St. Vincent volleyball team may have lost its last match of pool play at the Class 1 state tournament but the Indians secured a spot in Saturday's championship game.

The Indians were defeated 25-20, 25-22 by Santa Fe Friday afternoon at the Show Me Center to finish 3-3 in pool play.

New Haven also finished 3-3 after splitting with Winona, but St. Vincent won the head-to-head tiebreaker after sweeping the Shamrocks to start pool play.

St. Vincent will face two-time defending Class 1 champion Winona at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Show Me Center for the state title.

The Indians split with the Wildcats earlier Friday.

Santa Fe took an early 9-5 lead in the first set against St. Vincent. A kill and a block by Katie Verseman and an ace by Jackie Verseman pulled the Indians within a point.

St. Vincent tied it and gained an 11-10 lead on a pair of aces by Kassidy Kassel.

The teams were tied three times after that.

The Chiefs broke a 17-17 tie with a kill and a block by Kylie Limback. A serve error and attack error by the Indians led to 21-18 deficit and a St. Vincent timeout.

The Indians scored twice on set-point but a kill by Alexis Smith gave the Chiefs their first victory of the day.

St. Vincent led 7-3 in the second set before three kills by Smith and a service ace tied it at 7-7.

The Chiefs broke open a 10-10 tie with a 5-0 run, but the Indians knotted it up at 15 with help from three Santa Fe errors and kills from Jackie Verseman and Kassel.

St. Vincent never regained a lead in the set.

Santa Fe and New Haven will play at 9 a.m. for third place.