Lutheran South Lands Itself Another Volleyball District Championship

SOUTH CITY – With her team surprisingly behind in the early stages of Wednesday’s MSHSAA Class 3 District 3 volleyball championship game at Bishop DuBourg High School, Lutheran South head coach Carol Reinitz called timeout and pulled her team together to talk about why the Lancers weren’t playing so well.

And although Reinitz, who’s known as a bit of a yeller, spoke a bit quieter than usual, her words were clearly no less effective. She somehow managed to wake up her sleepwalking squad and led Lutheran South to a 25-13, 25-23 victory over DuBourg, bringing home the Lancers' 12th straight district volleyball title.  

“It was a lot of fun,” Reinitz said, after receiving a number of victory hugs and high-fives from her assistant coaches, her team and their parents. “I was really happy for that group of seniors, because they’ve come a long way in their time here. So I’m really excited for them.”

Included in that group of seniors is 5-foot-7 outside hitter Dana Kaempfe, who led all attackers with nine kills on Wednesday, including a pair of back-to-back kills late in the first set that helped Lutheran South grab the lead for good at 12-11.

Teammate Clair Luther, a 5-foot-11 junior middle hitter, also had a big night for the Lancers with five kills and three blocks.

But Lutheran South’s top performer on the night might have been sophomore Kristina Piedimonte, who bounced back from a shaky performance in Tuesday’s semifinals against Notre Dame, to give a sensational effort in the championship game against DuBourg.

Piedimonte had an unofficial total of 12 assists on the night and helped the Lancer offense get going with her improved passing on Wednesday.

“I think (Kristina’s) an outstanding athlete,” Reinitz said. “However, I believe it was more of a team effort tonight than it was an individual effort. I think it was our aggressive serves that kept us in that game.”

And DuBourg certainly seemed to have trouble receiving serves throughout the night. Some of them resulted in aces for the Lancers, while others just weren’t received cleanly, and prevented the Cavaliers from getting their own offense started.

“Winning districts 12 years in a row means a very lot to us at Lutheran South and the whole Lutheran South volleyball program,” Reinitz said. “I’m proud of the girls that started the tradition, and every year for the girls that have kept it going.”

Winning its 12th district title in a row means Lutheran South has advanced to the state playoffs, where they will meet Perryville High in the sectional round this Saturday, October 29, at 4:30 p.m., at Windsor (MO) High School.

Perryville, which is 29-3 and was undefeated champion of the Jefferson County Conference this year, advanced to sectionals by defeating Festus High on Wednesday night, in the District 1 championship game.  

DuBourg finished its season with a record of 11-10.

Scoring Summary

Scores

F

Bishop DuBourg (15-13)

13

23

0

Lutheran South (22-9-1)

25

25

2