Over the last eight days Westminster has hosted the Class 5 District 3 volleyball tournament. Coming into the tournament, Wildcat Volleyball was slotted as the #3 seed in a pool of teams that included defending state and district champions.
The quarterfinal contest had the Cats facing the Panthers of Ft. Zumwalt North. In the battle of big cats, the Wildcats proved to be more formidable with their dominant 3-0 sweep, winning their three sets by an average of nearly 15 points.
With the quarterfinal round going chalk for the tournament and all top four seeds advancing, Westminster's next opponent was the #2 seed, Pattonville. While the match up wasn't nearly as lopsided as the opening round, the Wildcats still ended the Pirates season in three sets, setting up a Tuesday night district final against the 2024 Class 4 State Champion Red Knights.
Westminster has had a slew of competitive games against Incarnate Word over the past three seasons, including a match-up in the 2022 Class 4 State Championship. The most recent match up saw the Red Night taking the edge over Wildcats 1-3 in an early September match this season.
The match looked to be an instant classic, with team teams splitting the opening sets 1-1, including a 26-24 battle in set two evening the score for the Wildcats. In a vital 3rd set to take the one set advantage, they looked like they were going to keep the momentum rolling up 24-17. The Red Knights battled back to push the set score to 24-22, before senior Myah DeRossett put the last ball of the set away, giving the Wildcats the 2-1 lead in the match.
In the potential match deciding set, the Wildcats left no doubt on who should be representing District 3 in the Class 5 State tournament. The fourth set saw some slight wavering of the lead, but ultimately had the Wildcats ending the Red Knights season on the back of 4 kills from sophomore Lyric Hughes.
The Wildcats will take on the Vikings at Francis Howell High School at 3:00 p.m. on November 2. The winner will head to Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau for next week's Final Four on November 6 and 7.
