Championship Thursday

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The final day of the 2024 high school season for teams in Class 4 and 5. The semifinal matches went as I predicted. Let's take a look at what I expect to see take place this afternoon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 4</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. Pius X (Festus) vs. Jefferson City</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pius defeated Platte County in straight sets and the balance of their attack showed up in the stat sheet with four players earning at least 8 kills, led by [player_tooltip player_id='475322' first='Kate' last='Sherry'] and her 13. The team hit for a .230 clip, which isn't earth-shattering but the Pirates struggled to get in rhythm and only hit .032 on the day. [player_tooltip player_id='219756' first='Karlee' last='Riggs'] finished with 10 kills. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It took Jefferson City all five to escape with a win in the other semi. After dropping the opener, they grabbed the next two sets before St. Charles Lutheran won the 4th in extra points to set the stage for what would be a tremendous state championship semifinal. There are no available stats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If we go back and look at the final four previews, the constant that remains for this match is the many weapons offensively for Pius. However, the key continues to be for me the decision-making from setter [player_tooltip player_id='221231' first='Elena' last='Ruble']. She does a good job of finding the right match-ups for her hitters and putting them in position to put balls down. If they get their middles in the flow early, it will open up the pins and make them a difficult team to stop. Jefferson City will need to limit its errors and serve tough to keep Pius out of the system as much as possible. The Jays don't have the firepower to match St. Pius but have been solid behind the block. If they can keep rallies going, they have a chance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: St. Pius X</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 5</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lafayette vs. Ozark</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lafayette took down Liberty in what many would say was the match of the day. Liberty won sets two and three and put the defending state champs in a must-win scenario and they answered the bell with a dominating 4th set. The final set was a back-and-forth slugfest that went extra points and Lafayette escaped with a 17-15 win. [player_tooltip player_id='153929' first='Maya' last='Witherspoon'] went OFF. She hit .355 tallying 32 kills on 76 attempts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ozark didn't have much problem with Francis Howell, winning in straight sets. No stats were available.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Does Lafayette have anything left in the tank after an emotional semifinal win? Did Ozark not get enough of a challenge to prepare them for what should be an epic showdown? We will see. For Lafayette, the Witherspoon duo took 126 swings of 198 and accounted for 70% of their kills. The thing with most teams, they may be able to slow down one but not both. Ozark does provide a good-sized front line that is solid in the blocking and block-touch department. They will need to match the offensive intensity and will need more than [player_tooltip player_id='219778' first='Tara' last='Venable'] and [player_tooltip player_id='219783' first='Skylar' last='Hilton'] to show up on the stat sheet in kills. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: Lafayette</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->