Following a year-long hiatus, the St. Louis U. High varsity volleyball team is ready to dominate the court once again, already preparing for what they hope to make a perfect, state-winning season.

The last time the team took the court was in May of 2019, when the Jr. Bills clinched a second consecutive state title against Vianney in two sets. And ever since the advent of Covid-19—which started in the first few weeks of practices in 2020—stripped them of a chance to defend their title, SLUH’s best bumpers, setters, and spikers have been working overtime in the offseason to prepare for this spring.

The goal since last year for the team has not changed. Winning a State Championship is at the forefront of every player’s mind, and as they begin their first practices with the new lineup, that outcome is absolute to many on the roster. 

According to right-side hitter junior Michael Yemm, the lack of a 2020 season has only served to make the team more determined this year.

“Covid really stunted the season last year,” said Yemm. “We had a great group of guys that were all gelling together, and it took that away and I think that's going to make us even hungrier this year.”

On top of its expected state run, the team has set very high expectations for itself in the regular season. 

“The expectations are always high, but this year especially we hope to finish off with another State Championship win, and we're looking to not lose a set,” said outside hitter and team captain senior Peter Quinn.

Head coach Jeff Cheak, despite expressing assurance in the new team, thinks that they will have a ways to go if they want to replicate the flawless records of years past.

“I would say, normal for most of this program is ‘focus on getting better each day,’ but with the end goal of being to and winning state,” said Cheak. “(We’ve) got a lot of work to get there and we've got a lot of milestones to hit on a way to reach our goal, but one of the best parts of the program is our goal each year— is that state title.”

Cheak is returning for his 7th year as a volleyball coach at SLUH and is looking forward to getting back into things.

Most of the roster already plays for High Performance, an elite volleyball club in the St. Louis area. The club-team life has many advantages—primarily the ability to refine skills against other top-tier players in the offseason, which is exactly what they have been doing. The club members have been practicing in the gym since August, so any rust that might have accumulated over the summer has already been sanded down and polished as the season approaches.

This year, the games are going to be a bit different. Since the team will end up playing fewer total games, the set number has been increased to a max of five for varsity, allowing players to get a fuller experience out of the season.

For now, the team is just looking to foster a sense of love and community that’s always persisted throughout the program, keeping in mind their plans for the season.

“I think the expectations for our team are to definitely continue the love of the program down through the JV and freshman level—make sure that they understand how important this program is to the SLUH community,” said Yemm.