KANSAS CITY — For the first time in 24 years, a St. Louis area team will not be playing for the Class 4 state volleyball championship.

MWAA White powers St. Joseph's Academy and Incarnate Word Academy both came to Kansas City with high expectations, but those were quickly doused with disappointing semifinal performances. Now the two will meet in today's third-place match at 7 p.m.

St. Joe's (28-8-2), the defending state champion, went 2-4 in semifinal pool play. The Angels split with Incarnate and Ozark and lost to Blue Springs.

"We just couldn't get it going," St. Joe's coach Karen Davis said. "I think we were tense from point one."

Helen Boyle and Cat McGrath led St. Joe's with 22 kills in the semifinals and Taylor Masterson added 20. Krista Menghini and Alyssa Jensen combined for 67 assists.

Incarnate (25-11-1), which finished third last season, went 1-5 in pool play. Aside from the split with St. Joe's, Incarnate lost to Ozark and Blue Springs.

"We waited too long to get going in the first game and I don't think we had much fight in the second game," Incarnate coach Darren Isaak said. "And that's kind of disappointing because I think we are a much better team than that."

Emily Keaton led Incarnate with 19 kills. Mallory Warrington and Megan Muesenfechter combined for 47 assists.

The last time a Class 4 championship was played without any area teams was in 1984 when West Plains beat Truman 15-13, 5-15, 15-6. Washington beat Hazelwood Central 15-12, 15-0 in the third-place match that year.

HERMANN GOES

FOR NO. 11

The Bearcats are going for state title No. 11 and their third in four years in Class 2.

Hermann (29-8-1) swept through semifinal pool play, beating Scott City, College Heights Christian and Maryville. Shelby Winkelmann had 31 kills in the three semifinal matches and Kaitlyn LaBoube and Brooke Schaefer combined for 52 assists.

Hermann will play Scott City (34-3-1) in the championship match at noon today. Hermann beat Scott City 25-16, 25-19 in pool play.