Obviously, the win was the most important, but senior setter Katelyn Diani-O’Day entered the contest 26 assists shy of the vaunted 3,000 mark for her career. A sweep of Kirkwood would probably mean the milestone would have to wait one more night, allowing Versemann, who was out of town, to be there.

But the Pioneers didn’t get the memo, pulling out a tightly contested third set, pushing the match to four sets. The Cougars pulled out the win and Diani-O’Day hit the milestone with a 30-assist effort.

“We almost won that third set, and then I was like, ‘Oh man, now she's going to break it tonight,’ ” Versemann said. “I was pretty proud of her. I was watching online.”

Even though her coach wasn’t there, Diani-O’Day had plenty of motivation to hit the mark against the Pioneers.

“All my family was there that night,” Diani-O’Day said. “I had three aunts and all their kids were there, and my uncles and the other side of my family as well.”

The fact Diani-O’Day’s family could literally fill up a section by itself is no surprise to those around the Lutheran St. Charles program. Diani-O’Day, a 5-foot-9 Missouri Western recruit, was literally raised on a volleyball court.

Both of her parents played college volleyball, as did three of her aunts. Versemann said Diani-O’Day came in with a really high volleyball IQ as a freshman, which is one of the reasons she is now a four-year starter.

“This kind of a player is not developed through the high school season,” Versemann said. “She grew up playing volleyball. She plays a lot of volleyball outside of high school and even on her club team. Her coaches have said that she spends a lot of extra time outside of club practices, working hard, always finding even extra time, asking for extra coaching, to become this kind of a player.”

The family theme this season is literally visible when the Cougars take the court as Diani-O’Day’s little sister, Sammie O’Day, is starting at libero as a freshman. It’s the first time the sisters have played together on the same team.

And they are loving every second of it.

“Like we talk after practice or on the way home, or like going to practice sometimes,” Katelyn Diani-O’Day said. “But other than that, we kind of just play off the feeling.”

The chemistry was instant between the two.

“It's been pretty easy,” Sammie O’Day said. “There's been some disagreements for sure, but otherwise we communicate pretty well.”

O’Day and defensive specialist Reagan Kurtzeborn, along with Lacey Zumbehl, head up a strong defense. Not only is the crew tasked with keeping the ball off the floor, their ball control is vital to allow Diani-O’Day to run the offense.

Versemann said Diani-O’Day doesn’t need a perfect pass to make the perfect set and her ability and experience allows the Cougars to run a more complex offense.

“We can run a much faster tempo on the court,” Versemann said. “So, we can throw things at other teams at different speeds, different kinds of sets — high, slides and middles. A lot of times you can't run your middles if you don't get a good pass and she can figure out how to get them involved all the time. We can run our back row attack because she knows where the hitters are in the back row all the time. So, she's never just looking to the outside hitter. She knows where all the hitters are on the court, and she knows how to find them with a set and she'll also take the second ball herself. So not only does she dump the ball and tip the ball, she'll jump in and attack the ball. So that's pretty fun.”

While Zumbehl (3.74 kills) is Diani-O’Day’s go to option, hitters Aubrey Roshek, Kennedy Brown and Aubrey Goellner are also heavily involved. All four attackers average over a kill a set, keeping the opposing block honest.

Diani-O’Day said she doesn’t overthink the offense.

“I really mainly go to the hitter that is on fire,” she said.

Diani-O’Day (who averages 7.7 assists a game) broke the school’s assists record last season and is now climbing the state’s all-time list as her career winds down. She currently sits sixth all-time with 3,103 assists and is 38 away from fifth, according to Missouri State High School Activities Association records.

“It's been fun to watch her mature and become not only like a technical leader, a skilled setter, to actually a team leader on the court, and being able to encourage and build up her teammates and work with each individual hitter to put the ball where that individual needs the ball,” Versemann said. “She's also improved in other areas as a player. She's improved on her defense and her serving, which, you know, as a freshman was just kind of average, and now she's one of the top defenders.”

That leadership has also helped underclassmen, like Sammie, feel welcomed on the varsity level.

“She's already friends with a bunch of people on the team, so coming in, it was a lot easier being introduced and getting to meet all those girls,” Sammie O’Day said. “She's definitely helped me find a spot on the team.”

Lutheran St. Charles (13-9) notched a 18-25, 25-20, 25-6, 25-16 victory Tuesday against St. Joseph's and seems to be hitting its stride as the season enters the stretch run.

Last year, the Cougars advanced to the Class 4 sectional before losing to eventual state champion Incarnate Word. The loss has served as motivation for Diani-O’Day and the other returners.

Diani-O’Day said a postseason run will come down to serving and passing.

“If you serve aggressively, get them out of system, they can't attack,” she said. “If you pass well, we can attack instead.”