For the fourth straight season, Washington (17-6-2) captured the championship of the Hermann Volleyball Tournament by defeating Borgia (15-6-1) in the finals.
Playing at Hermann High School on Thursday, Sept. 27, the Lady Jays knocked off Borgia, 25-22, 11-25, 25-23 in the championship match.
“Borgia is a great team. We just talked about what our roles are, what we needed to do to stay within ourselves and worry about what we were doing on our side of the court,” said Washington Head Coach Susan Harms. “We have seven seniors and this was their time to go out there and do what they do best. We did a great job staying focused on what we needed to do.”
“It’s crazy to win this tournament four years in a row,” said Washington senior Josie Kleekamp, who has played on all four of the Lady Jays’ teams that won the Hermann Tournament over the last four seasons. “That’s been my goal for so long. And to do it against Borgia, our cross-town rival. It’s a great feeling.”
“We left it all on the court. Its mind blowing to win this tournament four years in a row,” said Washington senior Kate Freitag. “Every year, we knew we could do it. We’ve always given it our best shot.”
The Lady Jays came back strong in the third game after dropping the second.
“After the second game, we just needed to re-focus and get the momentum back on our side. We still had the confidence that we could win,” Freitag said.
“In the second game, we had nine to 11 unforced errors and once you do that, the momentum swung to their side,” Harms said. “We tried to chip back, but they were too far in front. We put that game behind us and were ready for the third game.”
The third game was as competitive as it gets.
Washington held a slim lead throughout, including 23-20.
After Borgia tied it 23-23, the Lady Jays took the lead on a kill by Kleekamp, who then served the final point for the championship.
“It was a back-and-forth third game with not a lot of errors on either side,” Harms said. “Our defense played well and we picked up a few big hits. All of our girls played the role they were supposed to. It was exciting, emotional.”
Washington advanced to the championship match by defeating Montgomery County in the semifinals, 25-23, 25-21.
The Lady Jays won their pool on Tuesday, Sept. 25, with a 5-1 game record, going 2-0-1 overall. They defeated Pacific (25-7, 25-19) and New Haven (25-6, 25-21), and split with Hermann, 25-20, 21-25.
“We still have a lot to play for,” Harms said. “Districts are at our place this year. We would love to win a district championship.”
Photos from the championship match of the Hermann Tournament are below.
