ST. JOSEPH — After finishing third in last year’s Class 2 state tournament, the St. Vincent Lady Indians set their sights on one thing — getting back to the state tournament and winning it all.
Last week, they completed that goal, topping New Covenant Academy 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-21) in the semifinal round on Wednesday at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, then pounding out another 3-0 victory — 25-18, 27-25, 25-23 — over Hermann on Thursday to claim the program’s first-ever state championship.
“It’s unreal,” said St. Vincent’s first-year coach, Leeah Radil. “It’s something not a lot of people get to experience. It’s an unreal experience, just an overwhelming feeling of joy and just of pride. They had that mindset of, they were here to win it all, and they’re here to go out on a high note, and they pulled through and they did it.”
The Lady Indians (28-6- 2) not only swept the state finals, but they didn’t lose a set since the semifinal round of the Class 2, District 1 tournament.
“They work their butts off,” Radil said. “They come in every day ready to go, and they wanted it and they got it. I’m super proud of those girls. They really do mean the world to me. They’re awesome.” That work ethic served them well getting back to the finals, but to improve on their performance from 2024, the Lady Indians had to first get past New Covenant Academy (28-5-3) — and do it in completely unfamiliar surroundings.
“It was a new environment for the girls with how the gym was set up and stuff,” Radil said. “The lights in there were not the best. It’s spotlights that are coming down on the girls, like literal spotlights are coming out on them. And the ceilings were terribly high.”
That led to an adjustment period in the semifinal round.
“They had to make adjustments,” Radil said. “They have to figure out how to play in those types of environments. I think our first day was them getting used to it. They’re settling into, ‘Hey, we’re back in state. Now we need to kick it into gear and go.’ After they got used to it, it kind of just felt a little bit more comfortable, and things started going our way, which was good.”
Senior Kate Rubel led the Lady Indians with 21 kills and 4 aces, while senior Alaina Cates had 8 kills and a block. Seniors Kennedy Cissell and Clara Clifton each had 5 kills and 2 blocks, and junior Sophia Verseman had 4 blocks.
Senior Brie Rubel had 40 assists, 2 kills, a block and an ace.
“My seniors are not only some of the best athletes, they genuinely are some of the best people you will meet,” Radil said. “They are the kindest girls with the biggest hearts. They’re the best leaders I could have asked for. I think those seniors, they wanted it more than anything, and they put that fire into those other girls. The bond that they have with the underclassmen is unbelievable. I could get like emotional talking about them. I seriously have so much love for them. They really stepped up when I needed them, and it’s awesome.”
After taking down the Lady Warriors, all that stood in St. Vincent’s way were the Hermann Lady Bearcats (19- 14-2), a prospect that wasn’t nearly as daunting after the Lady Indians’ semifinal victory.
“It was like, ‘OK, we have to do this,’” Radil said. “They were almost playing timid, in a way. But after a while, they settled in, and everything after that was everything we worked on. It was awesome.”
Complete statistics for St. Vincent in the championship game were unavailable as of Tuesday morning, but headed into the game, the Lady Indians topped Hermann in every team category except aces and receptions.
In Thursday’s state championship, Hermann’s Ashlyn Hughes and Jillian Fredrick had 9 kills apiece. Fredrick had 5 blocks, Kealie Lane had 28 digs, and Brynlee Ash had 14 assists. Fredrick finished with the Bearcats’ only ace.
In the end, Radil said it was her team that made it all possible.
“From day one, they put all their trust into me and I put all mine into them,” she said, “and it was great. Day one wasn’t exactly what we had planned for them for state. It was not our strongest performance that we’ve had. But I think after that, day two was completely different. It was a new team that walked onto that court.”
And then walked away with their first state title.
