By Nicholas McNeal
Special to the Republic-Monitor
Following a season where the St. Vincent volleyball team reached the state final four for the first time in 10 years, the Indians are without a doubt primed to make history once again this fall.
The key for St. Vincent will be returning a majority of its starting lineup even though the team graduated its primary setter and middle hitter, the latter of which — Brigid Sauer — is now playing college volleyball.
While the Indians have an array of key players back in the front row, head coach Darren Verseman’s main concern heading into this season was who would take over at setter.
However, one of his returning Class 2 all-state selections senior Brie Rubel, who was St. Vincent’s starting libero last season, eased his worries one day at practice.
“Well, what about me? I can set,” Rubel said to Coach Verseman when the team was wondering which player could take the job.
Brie had actually played setter throughout last season when the Indians starter was out with an injury. Rubel even ended up finishing as St. Vincent’s leader in assists with 279 on top of her team-high 477 digs defensively.
The only reason why Coach Verseman was hesitant to ask Rubel to take the setting job in the first place was because of how vital of a defender Brie was as the Indians libero.
Along with having experience at setter last school year, Rubel helped lead St. Vincent’s girls basketball team to its first-ever state championship game as the team’s all-state point guard.
“Your team relies on those people — a point guard, a quarterback, a setter — as much as anyone, and fortunately for us we literally have a great point guard on our roster,” Coach Verseman said. “What more can you ask of someone that’s got the ability Brie has that’s not only willing but desires to take on that role?”
Luckily for Rubel, she will have no shortage of options to get the ball to as one of them is certainly no stranger to Brie — it’s her twin sister and fellow senior Kate Rubel, who also earned all-state in volleyball and basketball as a junior.
As one of the most dominant hitters in not only Southeast Missouri but the entire Show-Me State, Kate Rubel led St. Vincent’s offensive attack with nearly 400 kills at 366, which was 170 more than any of her teammates recorded.
Outside of hitting, Kate was a versatile player for St. Vincent by notching the most service receptions (448), and she had the second-most digs (233) and aces (33) behind Brie, who produced a team-high 34 aces.
What should opposing teams worry about in 2025? The Rubel Twins have considerably improved their skills in the sport despite basketball being their No. 1 priority.
“They just work and train all the time — they are always trying to refine their skills in whatever sport they’re in,” Coach Verseman noted. “And that doesn’t stop, you know? They’ll stay after practice just the two of them. They’ll ask questions, or they might just say, ‘We want a couple more touches here,’ and they’ll do things like that.”
Individually for Kate, Coach Verseman said they’ve been working on her repertoire of shots. This means a player like Rubel, who eclipsed 1,000 career kills at state last year, will be even more of a dynamic hitter in her final season.
“We’ve been wanting Kate to hit more different angles and be more diverse there, and she’s embraced that,” Verseman said. “Every hitter has a shot they fall back on, but now she’s got a couple more shots. It’s like, ‘Okay, she’s getting around on that pretty good, too.’ She’s a good blocker and is big, of course, so she can reach over. She’s just a force at the net.”
Another key returner to the front row that’ll also be a force for St. Vincent’s offensive attack will be longtime starter senior Clara Clifton, who was an all-district selection last fall.
Clifton finished as the Indians fourth leader in kills at 177, while she was one of the Indians top servers with 28 aces to finish third overall in the category. Additionally, Clara came up with 230 service receptions and 178 digs.
As a senior, Coach Verseman has noticed a different competitive edge in Clifton.
“Clara is another year older and now all of the sudden it’s like, ‘Wow, she always hit a heavy ball, but I mean now she hits it hard,” he noted. “She’s always done that, but now it’s like, ‘Holy cow!’ She’s just been crushing the thing, and, like Kate, she has more variety in her shots.”
Another senior St. Vincent will rely heavily on in the front row will be Alaina Cates, who ended last season pacing Kate in kills at 196 and a current college player Sauer in total blocks with 53. Cates also produced the best hitting percentage on the team last fall with a .297.
What’s most exciting about Alaina for her final season with the Indians is that her blocking skills are looking better than ever before.
“Alaina hasn’t missed a beat offensively, and it looks to me like her blocking has improved a little bit,” Coach Verseman said. “There were a few scrimmages we had where I thought she not only touched more shots, but she redirected them and absolutely sent them straight back down.”
Another senior who will step into a hitting role for St. Vincent is going to be Kennedy Cissell, who only played in two varsity sets last year. Even though she doesn’t have a ton of varsity experience, Coach Verseman has been impressed with what he’s seen so far from Cissell.
The final front row player that’ll have a major impact this fall is actually Coach Verseman’s daughter junior Sophie Verseman in the middle. Sophie was the Indians third-leading blocker last fall with 51, while she also finished with 98 kills.
Coach Verseman is no stranger to coaching one of his kids, of course, as he’s done so with Sophie her entire high school career and also previously his two oldest daughters in club ball.
“It’s just what happens in a small town,” Verseman said about coaching his children. “Sophie grew up with me coaching her sisters, so she kind of knew the routine anyway. I do my best to treat her like a player on the court, but there’s times after practice and games when I’m like, ‘Hey, your coach is proud of you, and your dad is proud of you, too.’”
Moving to St. Vincent’s back row, replacing Brie Rubel at libero will be senior Callie Schnurbusch, who ended up with the fourth-most digs at 181 as a defensive specialist last season.Along with that, Schnurbusch was also top five in service receptions with 215, and she will be joined on defense by the likes of junior Paige Leible, while fellow juniors Aubrey Emmendorfer, Addie Gremaud and Ava Gremaud are all set to get reps in the back row as well.“Callie has been looking forward to taking over at libero, but we kind of made it a competition between her and Paige Leible,” Coach Verseman said. “Paige is an all-out go-getter — she’ll go after everything, but Callie has really embraced the position. While there’s extra duties now that she didn’t have before, she’s moved right into it. It’s good to be able to fill in spots with those seniors.
“Everybody’s together. They’re working together and communicating when they’re on the court. It’s a testament to the seniors — they’re in business mode. … Kids are pretty smart, and they understand there’s a lot of talent out there. They remember what happened last year, and I’m sure they want to try to make another run at state, too.”
