GALENA, Mo. — The Galena home crowd went wild. The Bears were celebrating on the court in jubilation. Confetti popped and flew through the air.
For the first time in school history, Galena volleyball is headed to the Final Four.
“It was like, ‘Hey, we finally did it,’” Bears coach Joe Miller said. “We got the monkey off our back. We can put some new signs up on the wall next year. These girls can be proud when they come back 10 to 15 years down the road.”
In a five-set thriller pitting two state powerhouses, the Bears prevailed despite being down to their final point in the fourth set against Jasper in the Class 1 state quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at home. Galena rallied from a 2-1 series deficit and outlasted the Eagles 3-2 by set scores of 25-22, 9-25, 18-25, 26-24 and 15-11.
The Bears, improving to 35-1-1, will meet Advance (33-3-3) at 6 p.m. on Friday in the state semifinals inside Cape Girardeau’s Show Me Center. The Hornets defeated Bell City 3-0 in the other quarterfinal.
Galena is officially in uncharted waters as a program.
“We have never been this far,” Miller said. “We have won district championships, but we have never won any sectionals. It’s an amazing experience. These girls haven’t been in big games like this in their entire volleyball careers. I thought they responded well. We had our ups and downs. At the end, they made more plays than Jasper. Jasper is an amazing team. We were just fortunate to make more plays than they did. It’s an amazing feeling.”
After dropping the second and third sets, the Bears looked poised to tie the series at 2-2 midway through the fourth set. On the strength of an 8-0 rally, Galena jumped out to a 13-8 lead.
Jasper surged in front 14-13 thanks to a 6-0 run. The Eagles extended that lead to 21-14 and held a 24-19 advantage to get within striking distance of winning Saturday’s quarterfinal.
But those pesky Bears refused to go away. Galena rattled off seven unanswered tallies to tie the series and force a fifth and final set.
Both teams were evenly matched early in the fifth set, trading scores to 6-6. The Bears created separation thanks to a quick 3-0 burst to take a three-point lead and followed with a 3-1 rally to extend that to 12-7.
Jasper followed with a 4-1 run as a trio of kills by junior standout hitter Crystal Smith trimmed the deficit to 13-11. However, Galena closed it out and clinched the victory with two unanswered tallies.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
“We talked and I told the girls, ‘We are going to go down swinging,’” Miller said. “We can’t play soft. If it’s good enough, it’s good enough. If it’s not, at least we gave 100%. Turns out, in that fourth set, it was good enough. We made a few more plays than they did.
“It worked out and that gave us some momentum going into that fifth set which was critical. We got on an early run and built on that as we went through that final set. It worked out well for us.”
Kaesha Walter compiled 31 digs, 25 kills and three aces to lead Galena. Bree Rice handed out 19 assists, while Chaley Plottner had 13 blocks and Maribelle Martin tallied 10 blocks. Mel Rice recorded 32 digs to lead the Bears’ defense.
The loss marked an end to Jasper’s historic season. The Eagles concluded with a 35-2-1 record, setting a school record in wins.
“I’m proud of them. They came in this summer and had so many goals,” Jasper coach Brianna Vinson said. “They accomplished so much. I look back on this season, and I’m just so proud. They did so much. I told them, ‘Don’t hang your head because not many teams got to be where you got to be today.’ I’m just proud of them.
“We knew Galena would be tough. Ultimately for us, it was more of a finishing aspect. In the fourth set whenever it was 24-19, we let off the gas. We didn’t finish the way we knew how and that is what took us into the fifth set. It deflated them from that point on.”
A positive was a big-time performance from Smith. She capped off her junior season by going over 600 kills.
That feat has only been done two other times, according to the MSHSAA record book. Smith, who entered the day with 595 kills, finished tops on the Missouri leaderboard in total kills on MaxPreps.
The previous leader was Potosi’s Ava Robart with 597, whose season ended in district play.
“Crystal never ceases to amaze me,” Vinson said. “She always follows through. She is always reliable. Whenever you say, ‘Hey, it’s your time to shine.’ She’s like, ‘Ok, it’s my time.’ She’ll take it and do the best she can. She is a hard worker out there and a leader for our team.”
