Lutheran South News
Lutheran South reaches new heights thanks to team chemistry, balanced roster
Lutheran South boys volleyball coach Carol Reinitz has a pleasant problem with her setter William Krauss.
“He's one of those kids where, a lot of times you'll find that in setters, where they're just very giving,” Reinitz said. “He's just serving people all the time. What can I do for you? How can I make this set better for you? I have to beg him to dump the ball and take a ball for himself, or a kill for himself. I legit have to beg him to do it, but that is just who he is as a person.”
Krauss admits that looking for his shot is a bit out of his comfort zone.
“That's just kind of how I always been,” Krauss said. “I've always had more of like getting it to other players mindset.”
That team-first mentality is shared among Lutheran South’s entire roster and it’s a big reason why the Lancers are off to a 21-3-1 record to start the season.
Team captain Sam Dicken, a 6-foot-1 junior, sets the tone.“The intelligence that he has when he goes up to hit the ball, knowing when to tool, when to go off-speed, when to cut, when to go line,” Reinitz said. “But not only that, he's just so unselfish that he's willing to give all that information, all that knowledge, to help his teammates. It's just so fun to watch him, because he's just so giving to the rest of his team. He's just a fabulous captain. He really is the glue out there on the floor with the rest of the guys.”
Dicken is one of the area’s kills leaders, averaging 3.74 a set. He said that team-first mentality happened organically.
“I just love my teammates so much,” Dicken said. “I think we really just get along great together. I look forward to going to practices every day. I look forward to having games every day. … We haven't always had a very good team in the past, but we know that we're a little bit of a special group compared to past Lutheran South teams, and so we're just trying to make most of the opportunity.”
Dicken has a lot of help offensively. Freshman Eli Weiler (2.25 kills) has been a welcomed addition and seniors Hudson Bond (2.00 kills) and Kyle Buscher (1.85 kills) have had standout seasons.
Krauss, one of the area’s assist leaders at 10.19 a set, does a good job mixing up the attack to keep the opposing defense off balance.
But the Lancers’ success starts in the back row with libero Cody Abbas, who’s strong defensive play and serve receive allows the team to seamlessly transition into the offense.
“Cody Abbas is probably one of the best liberos I've ever seen in my life,” Reinitz said. “He is phenomenal. He's not afraid of the ball, and that's what cracks me up, because you know how hard these young men can hit, and he just puts himself in that line of fire. And it is just so fun to watch him play. He does it all with a smile.”
Lutheran South flexed its muscles at the Fort Zumwalt South Tournament on April 11, going 3-1-1 against some of the top teams in the metro area.
The Lancers swept CBC, Fort Zumwalt South and Fort Zumwalt West and split with O’Fallon before losing to Vianney in the championship.
“Last year we played CBC and I don't think it was even competitive,” Dicken said. “We got swept. Wasn't even close. And then the next game we had O'Fallon, and honestly, going into it, our mentality was just kind of like, try our best. And then we went out there and started just doing our thing on the court. We kind of realized, like, hey, we're there with that team.”
Lutheran South got better as its confidence grew against O’Fallon. After the Panthers edged them 25-22 in the first set, the Lancers dominated the second set 25-12.
“That O’Fallon game really gave us a confidence boost,” Krauss said. “Going into that game, most of the guys thought we were going to get crushed. But then the first set we held up pretty well. And then the second set, we just dominated them.”
Even a close loss to Vianney in the championship gave Lutheran South a boost.
“Just looking at the teams throughout the state, everybody's kind of beating and losing to one another,” Dicken said. “How SLUH beat Vianney, but Vianney beat Lindbergh, but Lindbergh beat SLUH and realizing that we're kind of up there with those teams where a lot of people probably didn't think we would be, or didn't give us credit to be up there, just for not really having the history at Lutheran south like a lot of other schools.”
Lutheran South will certainly have a chance to make its own history once the postseason rolls around. The Lancers have been placed in Class 1 with the Missouri State High School Activities Association breaking up boys volleyball into two classes instead of one this season. Lutheran South hosts its district and is 4-0 against potential district foes this season.
“You never count your chickens before they're hatched,” Reinitz said. “You got to make sure you show up to play the game. But then after that, obviously we are looking at the competition that we'll see and hoping that we can get to those next steps.”
If Lutheran South can take those steps, a possible rematch with Vianney could happen at state. But no one on the Lancers roster is looking past their next match.
“We just need to kind of realize the team that we are and go in with confidence and just play our game,” Dicken said. “When we're playing our best, when we're firing on all cylinders, I think that we're a pretty hard team to stop.”
Inspiring students through a Christ-centered lens to live courageously and serve faithfully
