Sacred Heart volleyball completes five-set comeback to win C1D14 title

Published 5:17 am Friday, October 23, 2026

SMITHTON — Entering the third set of the Class 1 District 14 championship, Sacred Heart volleyball was down two sets to none and still searching for its first lead.

Yet, with momentum completely on the side of top-seeded St. Paul Lutheran Concordia, the No. 2-seeded Gremlins never doubted their ability to mount a comeback.

Sacred Heart rallied to take the final three sets and complete a 22-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-13 victory on Thursday, Oct. 22, at Smithton High School.

“They just had to believe in themselves, and they finally started to and it showed,” Sacred Heart head coach Mady Nolting said. “It’s not about talent and who’s got the best talent on the team. It’s about who wants to come out and wants to fight and wants to play. My girls wanted to fight. They wanted to play. We have a saying this year, ‘We got to bring the dog.’ They brought the dog tonight.”

Early holes were too much for the Gremlins (14-14) to dig out of in the first two sets. They opened the match by falling behind 6-0 in the first set — a deficit that extended to as many as eight later in the set.

The second set started similarly, with Sacred Heart falling behind 6-1 and eventually by as many as nine at 14-5.

Facing elimination, the Gremlins regrouped before the third set and reset their communication.

“It was the talking [that helped us create momentum],” Nolting said. “They were nervous, you know, this is a big game. It’s the district championship. That’s big for them, but once they settled and they got comfortable and realized this was just another game, they were ready to go.”

Sacred Heart only trailed once in the third set at 1-0. It went on to lead by as many as 10 at 22-12.

The Gremlins fell behind 5-4 to start the fourth set, but back-to-back kills by senior Molly Brown and junior Birkli Martin gave them a lead they never relinquished, forcing a fifth set.

“I just kind of felt like we were really positive all the time,” Martin said. “It just kind of all came together and led us to a comeback.”

There were five lead changes and eight ties in the fifth set — the last being at 12-12.

An ace from junior Addison Figge put the Gremlins up 13-12 before an attack error by St. Paul (14-14-4) made it 14-12.

The Saints scored the next point to pull back within one, prompting Nolting to call a timeout.

“I wanted them to breathe,” Nolting said. “They needed a breather. I didn’t need them thinking that this was the end. They just needed to take a second. They all came off. We all talked. They breathed, and we were ready to go. They were like, ‘We got it.’ … It was just a nice little reset, and it worked.”

Martin put down the clinching point with a spike that hit off the hands of a St. Paul player and went all the way to the back wall.

“I feel like everyone else cheering me on kind of gave me that momentum to get the last point,” Martin said. “I just gave it everything I had and swung hard to the line … It felt really good. I kind of had a feeling that it was going to happen, that we were going to come back and win.”

The district championship is Sacred Heart’s first since 2022 and seventh since 2010. The Gremlins appeared in the title match last year, but lost in straight sets.

“We all kind of had a feeling [this year],” Figge said. “We were so close last year, and then this year, we just knew. We had that gut feeling, and we just played our hardest and played our hearts out and got it done.”

Sacred Heart moves on to the Class 1 sectional round, where it will face Osceola at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. A location for the match is to be determined.

Osceola beat Crest Ridge in five sets to win the Class 1 District 13 championship in Green Ridge.

The Gremlins and Lady Indians faced each other on Oct. 12, with Osceola coming out with a four-set win.

“They’re a good team,” Nolting said. “I’m happy we’ve already played them. We’re ready. We’re ready to go. We know what we got to do to beat them.”

More results

Sacred Heart beat No. 6-seeded Sweet Springs 25-20, 25-22, 20-25, 25-15 in the semifinal round Wednesday, Oct. 21, to advance to Thursday’s championship match.

St. Paul advanced the district championship with a 25-22, 16-25, 25-15, 25-16 win over No. 4 Otterville on Wednesday.

Otterville finishes the season with a 23-11 record — its best in recent history. The Lady Eagles beat No. 5 La Monte 25-14, 25-12, 25-23 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

La Monte also enjoyed one of its best seasons on record, finishing 16-13-2.

Host and No. 3 seed Smithton lost to Sweet Springs 25-27, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 10-15 in the quarterfinal round. The Tigers end the season with a 17-15 record.

Northwest finished the season with a 2-22-3 record after losing to Sacred Heart in the quarterfinal round 25-15, 25-11, 25-13.

Class 1 District 13

Green Ridge and Lincoln both lost their semifinal matches in the Class 1 District 13 Tournament on Wednesday at Green Ridge High School.

No. 3-seeded Green Ridge fell to No. 2 Crest Ridge 26-24, 21-25, 16-25, 14-25, while No. 5-seeded Lincoln lost to No. 1 Osceola 25-11, 23-25, 17-25, 18-25.

Green Ridge finishes the season with a 14-18-3 record. The Lady Tigers beat No. 6 Leeton with Chilhowee 25-21, 25-15, 25-11 in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round.

Lincoln concludes with a record of 8-17-1. The Cardinals defeated No. 4 Lakeland 25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 25-11 in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

Class 2 District 12

Cole Camp will play for the Class 2 District 12 championship.

The top-seeded Lady Bluebirds beat No. 5 Tipton 25-20, 28-26, 25-16 in the semifinal round Thursday.

Cole Camp will play No. 3 Warsaw, which beat No. 2 Stover 25-19, 25-14, 25-14 on Thursday, in the district championship match at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Stover Dome.

Stover ends its season with a 27-7 record. The Lady Bulldogs beat No. 7 Windsor 25-8, 25-11, 25-20 in the quarterfinal round Wednesday.

Windsor ends its season with a 3-19 record.

Tipton advanced to the semifinal match against Cole Camp with a 20-25, 25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 15-13 win over No. 4 Skyline on Wednesday.

The Cardinals finish the season with a 15-14-1 record.

Warsaw (23-5-1) beat No. 6 Eugene 25-17, 25-16, 25-13 to advance to the semifinal match against Stover.

Class 5 District 5

No. 7-seeded Smith-Cotton lost to No. 2 Nixa in the first round of the Class 5 District 5 Tournament on Thursday at Republic High School.

The Lady Tigers end the season with an 11-18-3 record.

Sports editor Jack Denebeim can be reached at 660-530-0142.