WESTON, Mo. — Five senior classes came and went at West Platte, experiencing success but unable to push back through to the playoffs.
On Wednesday, Oct. 24, the moment finally arrived, and while four players faced the possible end of their career, senior Daire Stelljes knew the accomplishment was meant to be shared. The Bluejays pulled away in both sets of the Class 1 District 15 championship match at West Platte High School for a 25-17, 25-17 sweep of St. Joseph Christian.
ROSS MARTIN/Special to the Citizen
The West Platte volleyball team won the Class 1 District 15 championship on Wednesday, Oct. 24 in Weston.
West Platte (27-5-2) returns to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. The unity of the roster shows with “332” scrawled on the inside of both wrists for every player — the number represents the sum of the team’s jersey numbers.
“It’s really about being just as happy for your teammates as you are yourself,” Stelljes said. “I thought about what this means so much. You just want to give everything you have because you’re like, ‘This could be my last shot,’ and I’m going to think about the last game for the rest of my life — if I still think about volleyball.”
The district title gave Stelljes and the Bluejays an unforgettable memory to carry forward — one likely worth thinking about for many years.
A semifinal win earlier in the night over Wellington-Napoleon put West Platte back in a postseason championship game for the first time since the 2012 playoff berth. The players admitted to coach Amber Guthrie about pre-match jitters, and the Bluejays started slow against the district’s No. 2 seed.
West Platte didn’t lead until breaking a 6-6 tie with a kill for sophomore outside hitter Lexie Smither. Tori Norman, a junior, followed with an ace to make it 8-6, and the Bluejays started to slowly pull away.
Known for her high energy on the court and the bench, Norman extended the advantage to 20-12 with a thunderous kill followed with a boisterous celebration. She also leapt off the bench in excitement when the Bluejays scored the final point at the end of the lengthy rally.
ROSS MARTIN/Special to the Citizen
West Platte’s Tori Norman goes up for a block against St. Joseph Christian in the Class 1 District 15 title game on Wednesday, Oct. 24.
“I get made fun of, maybe, for getting into the game,” Norman said. “We play for each other, not just for ourselves.”
Christian (17-11) again jumped in front during the second set and led 12-9 after an eventful series of points. Prior to Guthrie taking a timeout with West Platte down three, two of the previous three points came after calls were overturned with the decision favoring the Lions.
West Platte responded out of the break, scoring the next three points to tie at 12-12 and 6 of the next 7 to take a 15-13 lead.
“I think the biggest part of volleyball is communication,” Stelljes said. “The best way to push through hard times like that is to keep up your talking. Whatever you can’t do physically, you can do with your mouth. You can keep the intensity up even if things aren’t going your way and then eventually things will start going your way.”
West Platte didn’t trail again.
The front line combination of Stelljes, Norman, Smither and senior middle hitter Lara Lieske overwhelmed at the net. The versatile play of three-year starter Faith Stevens at setter and at the net and the steady play of junior setter Zoe Buckler and junior defensive specialist Grace Stevens provided the balance needed to allow the Bluejays to cap off a definitive comeback for a second straight set.
Guthrie said the outcome was indicative of a season that saw West Platte easily break back through and end another streak — surpassing 15 wins in a season for the first time since 2012.
“We have started out slow and then we’ll get on a little bit of a run in the middle of the set,” said Guthrie, a West Platte graduate and the coach during the 2012 district title season, as well. “I think it shows some heart from them to get down and battle back.
“In the past, that’s not something we’ve done well.”
West Platte enters a Class 1 sectional matchup with Rock Port (18-8) on an 11-match winning streak. The teams meet at 4:30 p.m. in Sedalia, Mo. with the winner advancing to a quarterfinal at 6 p.m. against either host Sacred Heart (22-10-1) or Kansas City Lutheran (27-5-2).
The four seniors — Josie Raney, Amanda Lowell, Stelljes and Lieske (a foreign exchange student from Italy — have the support of an experienced junior class that also includes middle hitter Sam Rotterman. The 332 Crew will have a chance to match another 2012 accomplishment by reaching the quarterfinals, but a sweep this weekend would mean the first state berth in program history.
All-time West Platte has just a 1-16 record accrued over 16 previous trips to the playoffs. If any group can break through, Guthrie wonders
West Platte senior Lara Lieske, left, and senior Daire Stelljes, right, go up for a block against St. Joseph Christian on Wednesday, Oct. 24 in the championship game of the Class 1 District 15 tournament in Weston, Mo.
“If any team can do it, I think it’s this team,” Guthrie said. “We knew at the start of the year this was going to be a special group, the way they mesh together. I haven’t had the opportunity to coach a team that can come at you from every angle. We’ve got girls all across the front row who can put the ball away, and that’s huge as a team when you’ve got multiple threats.
“They’re just an awesome group. They come and work hard every night; they’re go-getters. They’ll run through a brick wall to play a ball. We couldn’t be more proud of them.”