Hazelwood West Wins Fourth Straight Volleyball District Championship

FLORISSANT – To say the girls volleyball team came ready to play on the final day of the MSHSAA Class 4 District 6 tournament at , would be a major understatement.

The Wildcats, who locked up their third straight Suburban North Conference title last week with a win over , made quick work of rival programs Hazelwood East and high schools, in the semifinals and finals, to claim their fourth straight district title under head coach Michael Vaughn.

“This is awesome,” Vaughn said. “I’m so happy for the girls.

"It’s been a fun year, and we’re excited to be district champs again.”

West (17-13) has now earned a spot in the state championship tournament, and will host No. 2-ranked Francis Howell (30-4-1), in a sectional round game on Saturday at the Hazelwood West Gym, with the opening serve slated for 3 p.m.

“They’re No. 2 (both in the city and in the state),” Vaughn said. “But the way I look at it is anything could happen. Number one St. Joseph’s went down (Tuesday night) to (fourth-seed in the district tournament) Kirkwood. So in postseason, anything can happen.

“I know we’re the underdogs going in to it, but we’ve done upsets before."

Vaughn said the Wildcats upset Fort Zumwalt West three years ago in sectionals. The only thing crazy about Wednesday though, was how crazy good the Wildcats were in their wins over the Spartans and Hawks.

West began the evening with a 25-9, 25-10 win over East, in which the Wildcats never trailed, and simply breezed to an easy victory.

Then after Central beat McCluer North in the other semifinal, the Wildcats took down the Hawks in dominant fashion, 25-12, 25-12.

“We faced Central three times,” Vaughn said. “They know our tendencies. The thing is, we had to still keep our game strategy.

"It doesn’t matter if it’s against the lesser teams or the higher quality teams, we have to keep our strategy, and that’s what the girls did tonight.”  

Senior hitter Sara Gregor, the likely Suburban North Conference Player of the Year this season, was definitely the player of the night for the Wildcats, totaling eight kills in the semifinals and a season-high 19 kills in the championship game.

This season, Gregor ranks among the area leaders in kills and leads the entire Suburban North with 172.

“It’s going to be hard to replace an athlete like Sara,” Vaughn said. “She brings so much to the team, in terms of physical ability and game I.Q.

"With her leadership and her knowledge, she’s really going to be missed next year.”

For now though, West just needs Gregor and her mates to be ready for Saturday’s showdown with big, bad Francis Howell.

“We’ll be ready,” Vaughn said.

Scoring Summary

Scores

F

Hazelwood Central (5-19)

12

12

0

Hazelwood West (17-13)

25

25

2