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Nothing gold can stay: After losing record set streak to De Smet, Volleyball rallies back to stay undefeated; takes first in Lafayette Tournament

The halls of SLUH and the talk of many in the St. Louis volleyball community have been filled with news of the St. Louis U. High’s unprecedented set streak. Since 2019, the varsity team has not dropped a single set, playing 136 perfectly. This accomplishment is uncommon in volleyball, let alone amid the strong competition of St. Louis high school volleyball. Given the grand stat, the question just had to be asked: When will the SLUH team fall back to earth? 

The answer: April 28, 2022. SLUH lost the first set of their match against De Smet last Thursday, ending the long and successful streak. Despite the end of the run, the team is still dominating with a 25-0 undefeated season. They eventually beat De Smet in four sets, and then pushed through the competition in the Lafayette Tournament, beating the number two team in Illinois, Chicago Marist, in their most impressive win of the season. 

Going into the match on April 28, SLUH knew that De Smet would be a worthy opponent. The first set was controlled by the Spartans, who never gave up a lead to the Jr. Bills. SLUH was having trouble finding plays to bring momentum, something they strive on. De Smet kept their foot on the gas pedal the entirety of the set, eventually reaching a score of 25-22 in favor of the Spartans. When the final point of the set ended, De Smet players and fans enthusiastically roared and cheered on their team. Their reaction was justified given their accomplishment of ending SLUH’s set streak, but their celebrations were met with an equally loud standing ovation from SLUH fans congratulating the Jr. Bills on such a great record. 

Given that many on the team had never lost a set in their varsity careers, head coach Jeff Cheak was interested in seeing how the team would respond to the set loss. 

“I figured we would handle it well. We’ve talked about it quite a bit. As you watched our guys react to it, it wasn’t that big of a deal,” said Cheak. 

 

Among many players, the loss actually brought a sigh of relief. 

“Now that it is over, there is a feeling of relief. Now we do not have to focus on some stupid streak, we can foucs on winning matches and winning state,” said senior Ben Harmon. 

The Jr. Bills were quick to capitalize on the motivation gained by the loss. Ready to avenge their set loss in the following sets, they used the loss as fuel for the rest of the match. 

“We never let it get to us mentally before the streak was broken or after, because for us it is all about playing as hard as we can every match. When teams are able to challenge us, those are our most fun matches,” said senior Michael Yemm. 

This source of motivation was more than enough for SLUH to bounce back and win the next three sets in the usual dominating fashion 25-16, 25-16, 25-11. Cheak was very pleased with the response that the team had to the set loss. 

“I thought our demeanor was good. I felt like we just played a little bit freer instead of being a little more uptight and worried about some stuff. I thought it was a very mature response,” said Cheak. 

The Jr. Bills’ next matches were on Saturday, April 30 at the Lafayette tournament. SLUH, entering the tournament as the top seed, participated in five matches scattered throughout the day from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The first three matches were used to determine which top four teams in the 16 team tournament would advance to the gold bracket. SLUH’s opponents for these matches were St. Mary’s, Francis Howell North, and Marquette. The Jr. Bills easily controlled all three of the matches and moved into the gold bracket semifinals. 

In the semifinals, SLUH faced the Mehlville Panthers. The Jr. Bills easily handled their opponent in a 25-12 first set victory. The second set, however, proved to be a bigger problem. SLUH’s rhythm that led them to the first set win was missing in the second set, and Mehlville took advantage of that. The teams traded points back and forth for the entirety of the set. Not until later in the set were the Jr. Bills able to beat out their opponent in a 28-26 set. This win over Mehlville placed the Jr. Bills in the tournament finals. 

In the final, SLUH met Marist, a Chicago volleyball powerhouse that is ranked the number two team in Illinois. SLUH was looking forward to this match the whole day. 

“Seeing them beat some of the top teams in St. Louis during the beginning of the tournament, we knew that we were going to see them in the finals. A lot of teams talked highly of them, so we were ready for a tough and close match,” said senior Tanner Dougherty. 

However, the match was not closely contested. The Jr. Bills took the win with scores of 25-12, 25-15. SLUH played some of their best volleyball of the season, led by insane defense. 

“We were really clicking on all levels that match. Nobody was trying to do too much, and that played to our advantage. Craig (Ortwerth), Tanner, and Phillip (Bone) had monster defense. The ability that our defense has to keep plays going is such a strong part of our team that gives us repeated opportunities to earn points,” said Yemm. 

Cheak also cites the team’s smart decisioning-making for the commanding victory. 

“We played with some of our smartest play I have seen any team play. When we were in tight spots, we put a lot of pressure on them,” said Cheak. 

Overall, this past week has shown that the volleyball team can deal with loss, use it as motivation, and come back even stronger. As the team looks forward to the final week of the regular season and into the playoffs, they hope to use the response to the loss and their dominating match against Marist as motivation and a confidence booster to push them towards a state championship.

 

 


 

 

 

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