The Lady Eagles volleyball team will be making a second consecutive trip back to the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Nov. 5-6, 2020, where they will compete for the Class 5 State Championship.

Nixa knocked-off Helias Catholic (3-1) in the sectionals and Lee's Summit West (3-1) in the quarterfinals, securing their berth back to the Final Four.

In the sectionals, Nixa faced a familiar foe, who they faced a week prior at their venue and were taken to five sets but were victorious, Helias Catholic. This go around Nixa was the host and made sure it didn't need all five sets to secure a win.

The first set provided excitement from start to finish and turned out to be the pivotal set in the game. 

Nixa edged Helias 28-26 to jump out to a 1-0 game lead. 

The Lady Eagles carried that momentum into set two, where they jumped out to a 6-1 lead and forced Helias to use a timeout. From there, Nixa extended their lead to 20-14 and caused Helias to use another timeout. Helias would only score one more point from that mark.

Nixa went on to win set two by ten points, 25-15 and take a 2-0 game lead.

Helias regrouped in set three and defeated Nixa 25-21, but Nixa still had the game lead at 2-1.

Set four would be the final and deciding set in the game. Nixa came out firing to a 10-6 lead, forcing the Lady Crusaders to use a timeout. Nixa's early stout defense propelled them to a 14-8 lead, where Helias used another timeout at that point. Nixa would go onto win set four 25-16, advancing them to the quarterfinals where they would eventually face Lee's Summit West (LSW).

Nixa's offensive attack was lead by junior setter Sydney Golden's 57 assists.

Nixa and LSW did not see each other during the regular-season. 

In set one, Nixa ran out to an 11-6 lead and never looked back, defeating LSW 25-18.

Set two was all Nixa as well. Nixa jumped to a 12-9 lead, forcing LSW to use a timeout. Then, Nixa would extend their lead to 21-17 and LSW would use another timeout. LSW would go on to score to more points from there as the Nixa took set two 25-19.

Set three provided a different outlook for the Lady Eagles as they never had a lead in the set. Nixa trailed LSW 11-5 and used a timeout. LSW would extend that lead to ten points, and then Nixa called a timeout, caught some spark in their game and had a little run but would fall just short. LSW won set three 25-22.

Nixa made sure set four would be the final one. Jumping out to a 14-9 lead and forcing LSW to use a timeout, the Lady Eagles never looked back. With the game at 24-18, Golden set up outside hitter Jena Medearis with a beautiful pass, and then Medearis would smash home the match-winning kill that just beat the LSW's blockers fingertips, sending the Lady Eagles back to the Final Four for the second consecutive year. 

Medearis finished the game with seven kills and Golden finished with 47 assists.

Nixa faces St. Francis Borgia (29-4-2) in the Class 5 State semifinals on Nov. 5, 2020, at 6 p.m. at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

The two teams met during the regular-season where they both took one game from each other.

Photos of both games can be found here.

Video highlights vs LSW can be found here.