CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Helias Lady Crusaders have done something no other volleyball team in Missouri history has done.
Now they'd like to do something lots of Missouri teams have done.
With their results in Friday's round-robin play at the Class 3 Final Four, the Lady Crusaders' are 42-0-1, setting a record for most wins in a single season by any team at any level.
Only two other teams have even reached 40, as Lafayette went 40-0 while winning the Class 4 state title in 2012 and Lockwood went 40-1 while winning Class 1 in 2004.
Now, the Lady Crusaders would like to join those teams and plenty of others by getting one more win today and capturing a state title.
Helias will get that chance when it takes on Villa Duchesne (31-9-2) at 6 p.m. today at the Show-Me Center.
"I told the players I'd trade all these (school and state) records for a state championship," Helias coach David Harris said. "And they said, "Can't we have both?' And I said, "Yes, both would be nice.'
"This is what we've been working for all year, so it would be nice to fulfill that goal and dream that we've got."
Junior setter Ashley Dudenhoeffer said it's hard to comprehend the record.
"It's amazing," she said. "I never would have thought this would happen. It's such an honor."
Helias now has the chance to join that Lafayette team and 17 other teams in state history by finishing a season with no losses on its record.
"We started from the bottom and we wanted good records and stuff, but we never expected to come this far," junior libero Blake Berhorst said. "Being undefeated, it's crazy."
The day got off to a little bit of a shaky start, as Helias fell behind 4-1 in its first pool-play match, a meeting with St. Pius X: Festus.
Helias didn't get a lead in that set until going up 13-12 on a kill by Tory Wiley, but the Lady Crusaders never trailed again and won 25-20.
Helias trailed 6-5 in the second set before ripping off eight straight points, and it eventually claimed a 25-15 victory.
"We started a little shaky in the first match, but after they got their jitters out, we played very well," Harris said.
Erica Haslag tied for the match high by leading Helias with eight kills. Berhorst led all players with 15 digs, Dudenhoeffer had a match-high 24 assists and Lindsey Griggs led everyone with three blocks.
There was drama at all in the Lady Crusaders' second match, a 25-5, 25-19 win against St. Pius X: Kansas City. The second set wasn't really as close as the score indicated, as nearly every Lady Crusader on the roster subbed in at some point against Pius' starters.
Haslag and Griggs tied for the match high with six kills, while Wiley had five. Dudenhoeffer led all players with 17 assists, and Griggs had a team-high eight digs.
Helias and Villa Duchesne had both clinched spots in the final before they were set to meet in the final round-robin match.
They delivered a fitting appetizer for today's main course, as Helias eventually captured a hard-fought 25-22, 25-22 victory.
"The girls showed a lot of mental toughness," Harris said. "Late in that second set we had a three-point lead and we gave it away and they tied it up. Then we got it right back. They were able to refocus and were mentally tough and were able to execute a little bit better to win."
Molly Sandbothe had a team-high six kills in the match, while Laura Schieber, Griggs and Wiley had five apiece. Haslag had a match-high three blocks, Dudenhoeffer tied the match high with 22 assists, and Griggs and Berhorst had 12 digs apiece.
The teams had met once before this season, with Helias capturing a 27-25, 25-22 victory Sept. 19 in the Gateway Matchup Tournament. So while the Lady Crusaders are 2-0 against the Saints and have won all four sets, the margin of victory has been just 10 points total.
"It's very tough to beat the same team three times, but it's not impossible, obviously," Harris said. "But they know us, we know them, and there are certain rotations we'll each try to exploit."
In Friday's meeting, Helias rallied from 18-15 down in the first set and 15-10 down in the second.
"We're just so aggressive when we have to be," Berhorst said. "At the beginning, it's back-and-forth. But when we know we have to go, we push to the end."
The Lady Crusaders will try to beat the Saints today with the ultimate prize on the line.
"This is the second time we've beaten them, so they're going to come back to beat us," Berhorst said. "It's the championship, they want it. We need to want it more."
A win would give Helias its first-ever state title in volleyball.
"I think we're pretty evenly matched, so it just comes down to who wants it more and who's willing to do whatever it takes," Dudenhoeffer said.
Follow News Tribune sports reporter Tony Hawley (@tony_hawley) on Twitter for his updates during the games.