It's uncharted territory for the Calvary Lutheran volleyball team. The scene, however, is a familiar one for the Lady Lions.
Calvary Lutheran will play in its first Final Four today and Saturday in the Class 1 state championships at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
"I don't really think the nerves have set in yet," Calvary Lutheran coach Nicole Murphy said. "I don't think they probably will until we get down there and practice."
This is not Calvary Lutheran's first trip to the Show Me Center this season. The Lady Lions tied for third place out of 24 teams in the Red Division of the Dig For Life Tournament, which was held in September.
"I know most of the girls have played in Cape for the past four years," Murphy said. "As far as the court goes and as far as the facility, I think we'll be confident there."
The Lady Lions will open the Final Four with round-robin play today in the semifinals. Calvary Lutheran begins with a match against West Platte at 9 a.m., followed by Billings at 11 a.m. and then Advance at 1 p.m.
"It's similar to a tournament setting," Murphy said. "We've had pretty good success at almost every tournament we've gone to this year."
All three round-robin matches will go two sets, and the top two teams will play for the state championship at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The bottom two teams will play for third place at 9 a.m.
"We made it as far as I wanted to make it," Murphy said. "My goal was to get to state and push these girls harder than they've ever been pushed before, because they can accomplish this. We've made it this far. Now it's time to go down there, have fun, but still play really competitive volleyball."
Calvary Lutheran (25-9-2) cruised to a Class 1 District 12 Tournament title last month, the Lady Lions' first district championship in program history. They then swept Green Ridge (25-10, 25-12) and Adrian (25-14, 25-15) to reach the state semifinals.
This season, Calvary Lutheran is 10-0-2 against other Class 1 programs.
"Their attitudes are a part of why they've been playing so well," Murphy said. "All those girls go out every day and they work almost as hard as some college kids I've ever seen."
West Platte (29-5-2) is led by senior middle hitter Lara Lieske, who has 225 kills and 50 blocks. Junior setter Faith Stevens has 408 assists and 146 digs.
Murphy said statistics suggest West Platte runs a 6-2 offense - junior setter Zoe Buckler also has 177 assists - while she anticipates Advance and Billings to use a 5-1 offense like the Lady Lions.
"I would say they always have three people on the front row," Murphy said of West Platte. "I think they are a solid serving team. Our defense has gotten better. I think if we can handle the wicked serves that they're going to send at us, I think our quick offense will be able to beat them."
Billings (26-5-2) is led by junior middle blocker Bailey Groves, who has a team-high 271 kills. The Lady Wildcats average 24.4 digs per set, as Groves also leads the team with 373 digs.
Senior defensive specialist Lexy VanZandt (322) and senior setter Liz Gearing (320) are also among the team's leaders in digs.
"Billings has one, maybe two, solid go-to players," Murphy said. "I like to think of my team as having eight solid go-to players. I have six in the front row that I will single-handedly trust with the ball. We don't have that one person that's going to win a game for us.
"All of my girls, if you put the ball in their hands, they have the opportunity to put the ball down."
Advance (33-2-1) is the only one of the four teams with previous Final Four experience. The Lady Hornets finished runner-up in Class 1A-2A in 1979 and took third in Class 1A in 1983.
Junior middle hitter Roz Schrader leads Advance with 257 kills and 87 blocks, while sophomore middle hitter Nyah Wilson has 240 kills. Senior setter Addie Curtis also has 290 digs.
"They run a similar style to us," Murphy said. "That's something I've been trying to get here for the past few years is a quick game. Somebody is up in the air every single time the setter is about to set the ball, driving the ball to the target.
"Who can defend the quick game the best I think will be the winner in that game."
Calvary Lutheran doesn't share any similar opponents with West Platte or Billings, but it does share two opponents with Advance.
At the Dig For Life Tournament, Calvary Lutheran lost in two sets to Class 3 Perryville and split its two-set match with Bernie. Advance is 1-1 this season against Perryville and finished 3-0 against Bernie, including a two-set sweep in the state quarterfinals.
Calvary Lutheran touts its strength of schedule, suffering losses to district champions Helias, Hermann and Ozark. Hermann will be competing this weekend in the Class 2 Final Four.
"I think the strength of the schedule plays into our success this year, as well as our familiarity with tougher teams," Murphy said.
Senior middle hitter Olivia Bexten leads the Lady Lions with 258 kills.
"Having a strong setter who can take the ball over the net and a middle who can run behind the setter leaves Olivia open for a lot of those kills," Murphy said.
Calvary Lutheran senior setter Grace Smith has 704 assists, which ranks second in Class 1. Curtis of Advance has 678 assists and Gearing of Billings has 633.
The Lady Lions have been using a rotation of eight players. Adi Schulte and Kate Schlichting round out the senior class, while Jaelyn Engelbrecht, Sarah Johnson, Abi Lagore and Maddie Layson are all juniors.
"It's rare to come into a program and be blessed with eight solid athletes, especially at a small school," Murphy said. " My goal was to take these girls, who are athletic, and teach them the higher-level volleyball skills that they need to win. Once we accomplished the skills, you saw the wins come."
Like her players, it will also be the first Final Four appearance for Murphy, who played in high school at Helias.
"Not every coach can say they've been to a Final Four, and so I'm blessed to make it this far, especially in my second year at this school," she said.