St. Louis is the capital of the sports world this week, as the Cardinals are hosting the World Series.
But Lafayette tennis coach Donna Stauffer, who describes herself as a "crazy Cardinals fan," is more than happy to root on the home team and Lancers graduate David Freese from Springfield, Mo.
That is the site of the girl's state tournament, in which the Lancers are making their first appearance in the final four Thursday after defeating Ladue 5-1 in the quarterfinals Saturday at Memorial Park in Webster Groves.
The state singles and doubles championships in Classes 1 and 2 follow on Friday and Saturday, all at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
"I have been the bridesmaid so many times," said Stauffer, in her 14th year as head coach. "We have had some good teams through the years, but we always had to match up with schools like St. Joe's, Ladue or Parkway Central. I felt coming into the season that this was my deepest team ever. I have six outstanding singles players, and they played out of their minds Saturday. Ladue is so strong in the top three. I felt that every court could go either way. This is a dream come true."
Sophomore Arianna Demos won the clinching match at No. 2 singles against the Rams. Her older sister, Gabriella (now a senior at Drake University), was a singles champion in 2007. Her older brother, Dalton, is a standout quarterback for the area's No. 1 football team, CBC. But Arianna will be the Demos in the spotlight Thursday when the Lancers take on defending team champion Rock Bridge in the semifinals at 9 a.m.
"It is just so exciting to be a part of something like this," Demos said. "I feel that we have nothing to lose. We just want to go out there and do our best."
The Lancers have another sophomore, Haleigh Chobanian, at the No. 1 singles spot. Senior Chelsea Weise and freshman Abby Carpenter, who are undefeated in singles matches this year, are at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, with senior Julia Vranas at No. 5 and sophomore Kayla Neskar at No. 6.
"I hope we do things like the Cardinals and just stay relaxed and enjoy the experience," Stauffer said. "It is an experience that we will never forget."
The Lancers are 17-1, their only loss coming early in the season against Edwardsville in a match in which Chobanian did not play. Rock Bridge, which beat Ladue 5-4 in last year's championship match, is 25-0.
Parkway Central (11-4) takes on Park Hill (14-4) in the other Class 2 semifinal. Both teams were in the final four last year. Park Hill defeated the Colts 5-1 in the third-place match.
Visitation aims for its second consecutive undefeated championship in Class 1. The Vivettes are led by juniors Jocelyn Koester, Brianna Menolascino, Jana Haikal and Marielle Newell. Viz (17-0) will likely have its biggest challenge in the semifinals when it takes on Barstow (12-5), which beat Pembroke Hill in the sectional round.
Lutheran South (12-4) makes its second straight appearance in the team final four. The Lancers take on Bolivar (12-5) in the other Class 1 semifinal in a rematch of last year's third-place match that Bolivar won 5-1.
The championship matches are scheduled for 1 p.m.
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