By Joe Harris | Special to the Post-Dispatch
CAPE GIRARDEAU -- De Smet volleyball coach Tim Haffner entered the Missouri boys volleyball state championship match Wednesday convinced he still hadn't seen his team's best match this season.
He has now.
De Smet concluded its impressive postseason run with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-19 sweep of St. Louis U. High at Show Me Center.
"That might have been our best match this season, and obviously the right time to have your best match of the season," Haffner said. "We played really well. We talked about it in the hotel this morning, that if we play well, we don't have to worry about anything the other team's doing, that we can control our side of the net, and we're going to find success. And the guys were incredible today."
It is technically the first state title for De Smet since the Missouri State High School Activities Association officially recognized boys volleyball as a sport last season. The Spartans won three state titles, with the latest coming in 2023, when the sport was considered a club activity. MSHSAA doesn't acknowledge pre-recognition records.
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Riley Massey had 20 kills and Cole Esparza had 14 for De Smet (34-1). Ryker Whittle had 33 assists and Rory Luina had 11 digs.
"We all just feed energy off each other," Esparza said. "Rory was playing really good today, making some really good digs, giving us the option to even, like, get a good swing every single time. And I feel like when we're rolling, we're hard to stop."
Luke Schall had 11 kills and Anthony Bene had seven more for SLUH (22-7). Tanner Zippay had 30 assists.
"Their first ball contact was insane, and then I thought the libero was outstanding and their defense as a whole," SLUH coach Jeff Cheak said. "I mean they played an all-around great game, put a lot of pressure on us, and that's why they're a great team."
Kills by Jay Eveler and Massey sandwiched a Whittle block to give De Smet a small lead early in the third set, which it maintained throughout the frame.
An Esparza kill and ace brought up championship point, and a Massey laser ended the 71-minute match.
De Smet finished the season by winning its final 37 sets of the season, going back to April 26.
"Everybody played really well today, and the pressure wasn't much to us," Massey said. "I mean, (in the semifinals), there was a little bit of pressure. And today, like we came in with a lot of confidence and knowing we were going to come out on top if we did what we needed to do."
For a team with just a handful of seniors, the postseason run has provided invaluable experience for the Jr. Billikens.
"Just being able to compete out here, I think, grows us quickly," Cheak said. "We know what we need to work on and what we need to improve on."
Esparza express
Several early kills by Massey gave the Spartans a quick lead in the first set before Esparza powered a 6-0 run midway through that gave De Smet firm control of the opening frame. Esparza had three kills during the outburst to help give the Spartans a 17-9 lead.
Esparza added an ace and two backrow blasts as De Smet pulled away late in the first set. Esparza finished the opener with seven kills and an ace.
"(Tuesday), I didn't play so good," Esparza said. "I knew I had to make it back and just swinging away, no tips, just being confident."
Massey's turn
Massey had several big swings to give De Smet the lead midway through the second set. Massey and Esparza each answered with spike after a late SLUH rally and the Spartans took advantage of a couple of hitting errors down the stretch to take a 2-0 lead.
Massey paced the Spartans offense in the second set with seven kills.
"We've been stressing all season that it's the total team," Haffner said. "It's 15 guys. We played eight guys with the subs and libero, and so there's seven other guys on the bench that are coming in, working hard every day in practice, cheering the guys on, being good teammates that the guys on the court want to fight for. And it really was all 15 guys."
Milestone win
The victory was No. 200 for Haffner as the head coach at De Smet. It is the second championship at De Smet for Haffner, who also guided Cor Jesu to the Class 5 girls volleyball championship in 2021. With this recognized title by MSHSAA, he officially became the first coach in state history to guide a boys and girls team to a state title.
"This senior class, I got my 100th win with them as freshmen, and then the 200th win with them as seniors, and it's an incredibly special group of seniors that are incredible friends, incredible teammates, guys that I love with the bottom of my heart and I'm going to miss but I'm excited to see the success that they're going to find," Haffner said.
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