CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Class 2 Final Four didn't end the way the Fatima volleyball team wanted it to, but the 2014 season will be all about looking at the big picture.
Liberty: Mountain View brought the Lady Comets' season to a close in the state championship match, but the Eagles had to work for their 25-19, 20-25, 25-21 victory.
"We've been in that situation before (in the state quarterfinals) when we played Lutheran (St. Charles), losing that first set," Fatima coach Mark Bockstruck said. "It affects some teams, but not this team. This team fights hard to the end.
"I'm really proud of them after that first set to win the second one and try to come back in that third one."
The Lady Comets battled injuries and obstacles all season long before finding one thing it couldn't overcome - Liberty.
"I am extremely proud of this group," Bockstruck said. "The amount of adversity we've had this year with injuries and everything else, I am really proud we could, No. 1, make it here, which is hard enough in itself; and then we fought hard in this championship.
"We just didn't come out on top. I love these girls, they worked hard, and I'm really proud of them.
The Lady Comets were making their third trip to the Final Four in four years, and they've made it to the championship match all three times. Fatima finished second in 2011 and won it in 2012.
"It never gets old getting here," Bockstruck said. "I talked to Linda Lampkin at Hermann, and she's been here (20 times), and after our first time, I told her, "I can see why you go every year. It's really enjoyable to go.'"
The first set was tied nine different times, the last time at 11, before the Eagles won five of the next six points to take control.
"I think that first set, we didn't play bad; I think our nerves got ahold of us, and we were just trying to do too much," Bockstruck said. "(It was) not taking care of our jobs, we started trying to do other people's jobs, and that caused a lot of confusion on the court."
Fatima trailed in the second set 4-3 before, on four successive plays, it got a kill by Shaina Boehm, a kill by Megan Werdehausen, an ace by Haley Luebbering and a block by Courtney Kempker. The Lady Comets never trailed again in the set.
"The second set, when we calmed down a little bit, they stepped forward and played to their ability," Bockstruck said. "I'm proud of the team when they play to their ability. A loss when they played hard, I'll take that over a win where they didn't."
Fatima led the third set 10-7 before Liberty ripped off six straight points, three of them on errors by the Lady Comets.
"We made a lot of mistakes that first set, and we made a lot of mistakes that third set," Bockstruck said. "Sometimes those mistakes are momentum-shifters that really put it in Liberty's corner and helped them take advantage."
Liberty took that momentum and rode it to a 24-17 lead. But Fatima showed character by wining four straight points with its back to the wall before Liberty got the winning point immediately after taking its final timeout of the match.
"Liberty: Mountain View took away a lot of things we wanted to do, and give them credit for that," Bockstruck said. "They played a great game."
Tara Buthod and Luebbering tied for the match high with nine kills apiece. Emily Muenks led all players with 23 digs, Courtney Wolfe led the Lady Comets with 19 assists, and Boehm had three blocks.
The Lady Comets end with a record of 34-4-2, while the Eagles finish at 39-3-1.