Rogersville and Helias Catholic have begun a tradition over the last few years of facing off the Saturday prior to the Final Four in Cape Girardeau.
Two years ago Rogersville beat Helias in three set in the sectional round on the way to a final four berth. Last year Helias returned the favor with a three-set quarterfinal win on its way to a state championship.
This year the Rogersville travelled to face the nation’s 16th ranked team on their home court. It was another three-set thriller with the Lady Wildcats coming out on top in three sets to advance to next weekend’s Class 3 Final Four in Cape Girardeau.
Things didn’t get off to a great start for Rogersville as Helias took a tight first set 26-24.
“We had scouted them extremely well. We stayed true to what we were doing,” Rogersville Coach Tammy Miller said. “First game we led and then lost it (26-24) and I thought we had imploded, but the kids looked at each other and said ‘this isn’t happening’ and they stepped up and played a great match.”
Her message to get her girls back on track was simple.
“We talked about staying our course and having positive attitudes and staying together as a team. We talked if one person takes a bad turn that it could affect our whole team. They did a great job of staying positive even when Helias would take runs at us or we would get behind and kept at them,” Miller said.
Several players helped make a win over the Crusaders happen, but few were bigger than junior Birdie Hendrickson. She put down 22 kills on 48 attempts in the three-set match.
“She (Hendrickson) led us, but had her teammates not done what they did she couldn’t have done what she did. It was a group effort,” Miller said.
Samantha Thompson was key to getting the attack going with 37 assists on the night. She also had an ace. Sidney Dunavant was a defensive star with 16 digs. Alli Gipson and Maci McHenry each had blocks in the game with McHenry adding an ace as well.
The Lady Wildcats finished off the final two sets by margins of 25-22 and 25-21.
Rogersville will be able to celebrate this weekend, but will quickly have to turn its attention to next weekend’s Class 3 Final Four in Cape Girardeau. A familiar group of teams await the Lady Wildcats.
“The Final Four is the same teams it was two years ago and we went (winless). My big goal is to try and reinforce that just because you beat Helias the journey is not over,” Miller said.
The Lady Wildcats swept new conference rival Aurora in the sectional round to set up the quarterfinal showdown.
Rogersville will open pool play against Lutheran South, St. Francis Borgia and Pleasant Hill on Friday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m.
