The Red Knights defeated a talented Staley team from the Kansas City area 55-41 to win the Class 6 state championship on Thursday night at the Mizzou Arena on the campus of the University of Missouri.

It marked the eighth consecutive state title won by the Red Knights dating back to the 2016 season. The only blemish came in 2020 when the season when the Final Four was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.

It was a very competitive first half as Staley battled the Red Knights on almost equal terms, only trailing 24-19 at halftime. It was in the third quarter when Incarnate Word made its move as they scored on its first two possessions of the quarter and ended up out scoring the Falcons 18-9 to push their lead to double digits.

Senior guard Peyton Hill closed out her IWA career with a team-high 16 points. The Eastern Michigan recruit also had three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Nevaeh Lucious, a 6’3” junior forward controlled the paint with 14 points and nine rebounds while senior guard Nevaeh Caffey added 10 points.

Read the full article here.

 It was a promise Incarnate Word coach Dan Rolfes made last year after he left University Hospital on the road to recovery from a heart attack.

 It was a promise Incarnate Word coach Dan Rolfes made last year after he left University Hospital on the road to recovery from a heart attack.

Nevaeh Cortez-Lucious, Incarnate Word basketball

Incarnate Word coach Dan Rolfes called it a "reality check."

The Post-Dispatch Athletes of the Week is compiled by Chris Gove based off stats reported to STLhighschoolsports.com. Please send nominations to cgove@stltoday.com by noon each Monday.

Peyton Hill, Incarnate Word basketball

UNIVERSITY CITY — For a brief time, Incarnate Word Academy lost its way.

Read the full article here!

The 2024 Post-Dispatch All-Metro fall series begins with girls volleyball.

By: Benjamin Hochman

He wakes up grateful he could even wake up.

The defending state champion Red Knights will play in the Tournament of Champions at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe in Gainesville, Florida.

It is rated as the No. 1 high school volleyball tournament in the southeast. There are 86 teams from around the country participating. The tournament has a six-match guarantee. 

In the invite-only event, Incarnate Word will have three matches on Friday, Aug. 30 and three on Saturday, Aug. 31.

The girls will have a day on the beach on Sunday before flying back to St. Louis and returning to school on Tuesday.

“It’s an invite-only tournament for the top two divisions out of the four that set up,” said Weber, who was named the Class 4 Coach of the Year last fall by the Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches. “We’re in there in the top two, so that’s good. We decided to go again. It was in Tampa last year, and we played teams from Texas, Florida, Iowa and Nebraska last year.

“We went 2-4 last year. It was challenging. The competition is really good but that’s what we want. We want to play the best and see how we stand.”

Read the whole article here.

The key word now is past.

Last season, the Red Knights (31-10-1) won the Class 4 state title, their 12th state championship but first since 2005. The returners will now get to add their banner Incarnate’s volleyball tradition.

“Even last year we talked about how Incarnate has been to state through all those years, but they’ve never won it,” senior Ellie Witthaus said. “So, I think it’s really special to be the team that gets to win it.”

Witthaus formed a potent attacking combination with fellow senior Tara Greenberry as the duo combined for 27 kills in a sweep of St. Pius X in last year’s championship match.

“We’re all hungry for another ring,” Greenberry said. “Obviously, be happy, but just never be satisfied.”

Click here to read the full article 

France’s Gabby Williams made a jumper with one second remaining, but replay confirmed it was a 2-pointer and not what would have been a game-tying 3 in the Americans' 67-66 victory. It didn’t come easy, but Reeve won her third Olympic gold as head coach of Team USA, which won its eighth straight gold medal overall.

Collier, who also stars for Reeve on the Lynx, started and had seven points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes. Las Vegas Aces superstar A'ja Wilson led the Americans with 21 points and 13 boards. Kelsey Plum and Kahleah Copper had 12 each off the bench.

The Americans shot just 34% from the field and 15% from 3-point range. They went into the half tied with France at 25-25 and allowed the French to jump out on an 8-0 run to open the second. France shot just shot just 32% and 19% from 3.

The Americans recovered to take a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter, which was a neck-and-neck battle. Williams was France’s leading scorer and only player in double figures with 19 points and seven rebounds. Valeriane Ayayi tallied nine points.

But in the end Reeve, Collier and the U.S. held on to win the Olympic gold. The streak continues for Team USA despite a dangerously close call with a tough French team. 
Read the full article here.

While the defending Class 4 state champion volleyball team aims to maintain its lofty standing atop the state’s hierarchy, the softball team, according to senior pitcher/infielder Sophia Otten, aims for a return to state contention as the Red Knights will attempt to move past a 7-19 finish in 2023 towards the bygone days of five state appearances, including recent fourth-place state finishes in 2017, 2019, and 2021.

“Our goals will be to improve after every game and expand our softball IQ,” Otten said. “Also, (we want) to go out there and have a ton of fun and make lasting friendships and memories. Our final goal should be to win districts and go on to state.” 

The Red Knights will welcome seven starters back to the fold under new coach Mike McMullen, a former multisport professional athlete, which included a stint as a Major League Baseball pitcher. McMullen comes to IWA after guiding the Rosati-Kain softball program.

Amongst the seven starters back for IWA include: Otten (.390 batting average, four home runs, 18 RBI, 6-12 record, 2.87 earned run average, and 167 strikeouts in 119.6 innings), fellow senior outfielder Meghan Fowlie, a pair of juniors in catcher/infielder Charli Niemczyk and third baseman Alexis Clayborne; and sophomores in shortstop Lauryn Walker (.364, eight RBI), outfielder Erin Meriwether (.338, 11 RBI), and utility Francesca Lane.

Additionally, McMullen said he’s also going to look to a solid group of newcomers in Bella Schwetz, Maddie Daub, Anna Saltavierra, and Neveah Linhares for contributions.

“We have a strong group (coming back),” McMullen said. “We look forward to challenging ourselves with a tough schedule.”

The softball team will open its season Aug. 30 in the Jackson Tournament.

McMullen said he aims to keep things simple until everyone becomes acclimated.

“We will play hard for seven innings and, win or lose, you will know you played the Red Knights,” he said.

While the softball team looks to build, the Incarnate Word volleyball program will make every effort to maintain, especially as the IWA netters return six starters from the team that finished 31-10-1 overall and defeated St. Pius X in three games to capture the Class 4 title.

Head coach Shane Weber, who has been at the school for five years, said that while a title repeat won’t be easy, it’s not something the team will shy away from giving its best to try and achieve.

“We return our core players and starters,” Weber said. “This team should compete well and make a good postseason run once more. (It is) never easy following up being state champion but we will certainly have the means to be a solid contender once again.”

Weber said that 5-foot-10 senior outside hitter and Maryville University commit Ellie Witthaus (333 kills), 6-3 senior middle hitter and University of Houston commit Tara Greenberry (95 blocks), 5-6 senior libero Annie Fiuchs (486 serves received, 359 digs) and 5-5 sophomore libero Audrey Schaeffer (496 serves received, 281 digs) will provide a solid core for the Red Knights.

The coach added that, like any team, he feels IWA will work hard to grow together to be at its collective best when the postseason comes.

“This group knows what it takes to (be) your best in October,” Weber said. “They are a hardworking group with (lofty) expectations. I expect them to be contenders once again this season, but there is a lot of work that lies ahead of us in order to do that.”

Weber said his charges, who begin the season Aug. 30 at the Tournament of Champions in Gainesville, Fla., are a fun group.

That ‘fun’ translates to how the girls approach every aspect of the season, even through their collective mental approach.

“They are a very superstitious group, from anything to knee pads not being washed if they win to what they wear and eat pre-game,” Weber said. “They have some interesting thoughts on how success will come for us as a team, but it always seems to work, so maybe there is something to it after all.”

By Jim Faasen, Correspondent

Read full article here.

Read the full article here.

The Incarnate Word freshman impressed her coach, Moses Regular, by the finish she put on the Class 3 state meet in Jefferson City on May 18 and it largely had nothing to do with all that she did on the track.

Hensgens stepped in for injured teammate Gabrielle Gordon to team with Asya White, Mackenzie Smart, and Ava Tobias to win the 4 x 200-meter relay in a time of 1 minute, 42.87 seconds.

“She just loves to compete and to show you how caring she is (towards) her teammate,” Regular said. “(She) was injured on Wednesday and could not compete in the 4 x 2 and after the (final), Bailey decided to give her (the) medal for the state winning 4 x 2. That coming from a freshman.”

Hensgens’ golden gesture wasn’t the only positive thing she did for her team in Jefferson City. In addition to the team points earned in the relay, she won the high jump with a height of 1.70 meters while taking sixth in the long jump with a distance of 5.39 meters.

Read the full article HERE.

This past March ahead of the biggest game of the year, Rolfes faced the biggest challenge of his life.

As the Incarnate Word Red Knights begin summer practice, Dan Rolfes leads that way like he’s done so many times before. Rolfes has led the Red Knights to a record 131 consecutive wins, but one win – isn’t as clear as the others.

“I don’t remember anything (that happened on Friday, March 15),” said Rolfes.

After Coach Rolfes and the Red Knights won the state semifinal game in Columbia, Rolfes called his wife and told her he wasn’t feeling well. As they left Mizzou Arena, his world stopped.

“We got about 20 feet outside the parking lot and then I collapsed and had a heart attack in the car,” he said. “My wife started CPR and once I got to the hospital, they worked on me for about an hour and a half and said they shocked me 27 times. I’m just glad they didn’t give up.”

“At one point they came out and talked to my wife, and it was around the hour mark, and said ‘What do you want us to do? Do you want us to continue?’ She said ‘Yes, keep going.’ So, they did, and thank goodness they didn’t stop,” Rolfes said.

However, the fight for his life wasn’t over.

“Two days later I coded again, they shocked me again,” he said. “All the CPR caused me to have a punctured lung, so I had to have surgery on my lung. They gave me a 1% chance (to live).”

All he needed was a chance. After less than a month in the hospital, Coach Rolfes was sent home to recover.

“Honestly, it wasn’t until I was able to get out of the hospital that I felt like I was getting better,” Rolfes said.

As his health progressed, Rolfes reunited with the state champions.

“I will continue to tell people that that was the best day of my life and I’m not kidding when I say it,” said Incarnate Word junior Addi Owen.

“When we saw him it was a sigh of relief like ‘I can see the future,’” added Incarnate Word junior Savannah Stricker.

“I missed them and I just wanted to let them know that I’m getting better, I’m here,” Rolfes said.

As for where Coach Rolfes feels two and half months after his heart attack, he says “I do feel better but I’m cautious and honestly I’m scared.”

“Scared of what?” First Alert 4 asked.

“Dying,” he answered.

As Rolfes returns to the court for summer practices, things look different this time around but the mentality stays the same.

“I just want to win at everything, so if this is a challenge which I think it is, I want to win and I want to beat it,” he said.

Rolfes says his doctor continues to remind him he has congestive heart failure as he carries a device that monitors his heartbeat daily. He says he’s expected to have more surgeries this summer.

When asked about his plans for next basketball season, he said if the doctors say it’s okay after the procedures, he expects to be on the sideline for the Red Knights.

Read the full article HERE.

Copyright 2024 KMOV. All rights reserved.

by Dan McLaughlin.

Click here to listen the interview.

Incarnate Word Academy junior point guard Nevaeh Caffey thoroughly enjoys the one-on-one basketball contests with her father Johnathan in the driveway of their Warrenton home.

Neveah used to take a back seat to Johnathan, who played at Warrenton High and Moberly Area Community College.

Now, she has caught up — and maybe even surpassed her father — despite giving away three or four inches in the clashes.

"He's just mad that I've passed him up," said Neveah, who stands 5-foot-10.

Not so fast says Johnathan, who can still go to the rack at age 39.

"She's been scared of me for years," he joked.

The Red Knights have won 131 successive games, the longest current streak in the nation.

And Nevaeh, which is heaven spelled backwards, has been helping the engine purr the last two seasons.

Caffey already has committed to attend Indiana University, which is coming off a 26-6 season and appearance in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament's Sweet 16.

But she still has one more year left at the private Bel-Nor school — which means another year of drilling fall away jumpers against her father. 

To read the full article click here. 

Zoe Best (Incarnate Word Academy): The 5’10” senior forward was the engine that kept the Red Knights dominant basketball machine running to another Class 6 state championship. She was a tremendous performer with her high motor and constant activity. She averaged 12.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 steals while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range in helping the Red Knights increase their state-record winning streak to 131 games. She will be playing collegiate basketball at SEMO next season.

Neveah Caffey (Incarnate Word Academy): The 5’10” junior point guard is the St. Louis American Player of the Year. She was the linchpin of the Red Knights team that rolled to another Class 6 state championship and increased its state-record winning streak to 131 games. She is a dominant two-way player who averaged 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals a game while shooting 49 percent from 3-point range. She has already given a commitment to Indiana University.

To read the rest of the article go to The St. Louis American 

Rolfes continues to receive care in the hospital after suffering a heart attack while his team was on its trip to Columbia for the state basketball championships.

The Incarnate Word Academy community recently spoke to Fox 2 sports reporter Kevin Ryans on how the school supports one of their own, especially in trying times. To check out the full article, head to https://fox2now.com/video/incarnate-word-community-supports-coach-rolfes/9544634/

The Rolfes family continues to provide updates on Dan’s condition on their CaringBridge page.