Vianney Survives Kirkwood, Captures Second Straight Volleyball Title

With Kirkwood leading 21-20 in the third set of the Class 3 boys volleyball state championship Friday at Kirkwood High School, Vianney needed its veterans to step up. And as they have done all season, Griffin seniors Nick Mantia, Marty Trn and Matt George did just that.

The trio, aided by some outstanding defensive play, helped Vianney go on a 5-1 run to clinch the decisive third set, 25-22. It was the Griffins’ second straight state championship and 16th overall.

“I never thought I could have a better feeling than when we won last year,” George said. “But this doubles it, I swear. There’s nothing like going out our senior year with a win.”

George, who had 10 kills in the match, put away a ball right through the heart of the Pioneers defense to tie the score in the final set, 21-21. Mantia recorded one of his 18 kills to give Vianney a one-point edge, then Trn took over on defense.

Kirkwood senior Carl Williams, who played terrifically the entire match en route to finishing with 11 kills, had two straight kill attempts blocked by Trn from the left side of the court, and Vianney had a 24-21 lead. After a Williams’ kill, Trn set Mantia for the final time, and the Vianney faithful could begin their celebration.

“Marty’s done it a 1,000 times, he knows what he’s doing,” George said. “We’ve all been here before, and he just came up big for us.”

Trn was getting his hands on Williams’ kills earlier in the match, but he said he just couldn’t get the blocks to fall. Vianney coach Jeff Gabbert told him and the rest of the Griffins to stick with it.

“I told the guys in our timeouts that we’ve just got to keep putting our hands in good positions, and the blocks will come,” Gabbert said. “I didn’t know they would come that late, but we knew they’d come eventually. And thank goodness they did.”

Vianney concluded the season with a 23-8-2 record, while Kirkwood finishes at 25-12-1. The Griffins beat Webster Groves 25-20, 23-25, 25-23 in the semifinals to qualify for the championship match.

While last year’s 25-20, 26-24 state championship win over Bishop DuBourg High School came rather easily for Vianney, Gabbert and the Griffins knew that this year would be different. That was especially the case after Kirkwood came back from a 15-11 hole to win the first set, 25-21.

But the Griffins would not be denied. Vianney came out swinging in the second game and held a 13-9 lead. Kirkwood stayed right with Vianney and knotted the score, 24-24, but the Pioneers could not grab the lead. Clutch hitting carried the Griffins to the second set win, 26-24, and Vianney was able to close out the title in the third game.

“Kirkwood was right there,” Gabbert said. “They were just so tough. We were able to just squeak that one out.”

Gabbert pointed to improved serving and attacking as the difference for Vianney in the second and third sets. The Griffins committed six service errors in the opening game.

Meanwhile, for Kirkwood—which went most of the season under the radar—coach Keith Touzinsky said he was proud of how far his squad had come and how they performed in their last match of the season.

“In the preseason poll, nobody even gave us a chance,” Touzinsky said. “To get to the finals is amazing. The way the kids played, their desire, intensity and heart, I can’t say anything bad about our players. They gave it their all and they put on a good show. We just came up a little short.”

Touzinsky felt that Vianney’s defensive play was the match’s deciding factor.

“Vianney’s not big, but you know what, they don’t let balls to the floor,” Touzinsky said. “And that was the biggest key to the last four or five points to the match. They dug balls and we didn’t.”

Kirkwood senior Tony Fonseca tied Williams with 11 kills. Junior Erich Isringhaus had 34 assists. The Pioneers defeated Parkway West in the semifinals 18-25, 27-25, 25-17 to reach the championship.

“I was definitely proud of how everyone was playing,” Williams said. “We executed everything we were hoping to do coming into the match. We weren’t worried about the crowd in the first game. We were focused on what we had to do, and we got our jobs done.”

Kirkwood loses seven players to graduation, while Vianney loses four seniors, as the Griffins will attempt to go for the three-peat next year.

Mantia and George will be roommates at Missouri State University in the fall, and they hope to start a club volleyball team there. But for now, Mantia just wants to enjoy the championship moment.

“It couldn’t feel better,” Mantia said. “It’s a perfect cap to my senior season. I’ve been waiting for it for four years.”