Class 4 Final Four Preview

Vernon Birmingham November 5, 2024 @ 07:18 PM

Missouri is lucky to have two writers who focus on the happenings across the state. Therefore, you can have two uniquely different previews leading into tomorrow! While my colleague Ryan resides on the East side of the state, I lay my head on the West side, therefore there are things I know more about teams this way and vice versa. Here is my preview of what to expect in the state final four.   Semifinal Matchups   St. Pius X (Festus) 35-2-1 vs. Platte County 22-11-1   Pius still has the bitter taste of coming up short in the championship match in their mouth. They want nothing more than to win two games and hold up the top prize. They come in winners of 15 straight wins. Platte County is a team that had to find their way after a year where they graduated many assets from a team that reached the final four last season. Coach Donovan has continued to prove she's one of the top coaches in the state by getting this team to buy in and return to Cape.   Pius took four sets to dismiss Farmington. Four players had at least 13 kills led by 19 from [player_tooltip player_id='221230' first='Bennett' last='Raterman'] and 16 credited to [player_tooltip player_id='168037' first='Hannah' last='Leftridge']. This team has enough weapons to win two matches and advance to the championship match.   Platte County had to get by the postseason Cinderella story Notre Dame De Sion. It took five hard-fought sets but they escaped and won 15-10 in the final stanza. [player_tooltip player_id='219756' first='Karlee' last='Riggs'] continued to lead the offensive charge with 12 kills. Giavanna Derose played well defensively collecting 30 digs.   It's an uphill battle for the Pirates. St. Pius is deep and has been a very consistent team in 2024 and I expect them to advance to the championship match.   Lutheran St. Charles (23-13) vs. Jefferson City (28-7)   Both teams needed four sets to advance to the final four, with Lutheran knocking out Ladue Horton and Jefferson City eliminating Webb City. These two teams are evenly matched on paper, separated by one kill on the season.   Lutheran St. Charles had a big match from [player_tooltip player_id='737531' first='Lacey' last='Zumbehl'] in their quarterfinal match. The senior found the floor 23 times in 55 attempts. This team is an aggressive serving team, as evidenced by their 15 aces in their last match. They do a good job of keeping teams out of system, creating opportunities for themselves to be in rhythm offensively.   Expect to see a more balanced attack for Jefferson City. They have multiple players who can have high-performing matches on the offensive end. [player_tooltip player_id='477954' first='Nola' last='Borgmeyer'] is the player defenses try to stop. What is concerning entering this match is the number of receiving errors in the quarterfinal match. We shared how aggressive Lutheran is behind the service line. Jefferson City will need to reduce the 14 receiving errors from last weekend.   These two teams faced off on October 12th and it was a close match won by Lutheran -21, -23. In that match, it was the Jays who battered their foes in the service game. The big difference was Lutheran were able to manufacture more offense. I believe Lutheran St. Charles still has more weapons to advance to the final.

Missouri is lucky to have two writers who focus on the happenings across the state. Therefore, you can have two uniquely different previews leading into tomorrow! While my colleague Ryan resides on the East side of the state, I lay my head on the West side, therefore there are things I know more about teams this way and vice versa. Here is my preview of what to expect in the state final four.