• BY JACK MOLITOR - JMOLITOR@VICAD.COM
• Originally published October 15, 2009 at 11:33 p.m., updated October 15, 2009 at 11:55 p.m.

• St. Joseph 3

  San Antonio Christian 0

Brooke Rau couldn't have asked for a better finish.

Rau and the 14 other St. Joseph seniors completed their regular season high school careers with a win and a TAPPS District 3-4A championship on senior night Thursday at the St. Joseph Gym. The Lady Flyers topped district rival San Antonio Christian 25-14, 25-7, 25-13 to clinch the district and a bi-district home game to start the playoffs.

Rau, a senior who seldom sees playing time, made the best of it when she entered late in the match. While on the front line, she punched over a shot that sailed over the head of a San Antonio Christian defender and hit the ground before it could be corralled. The point gave the Lady Flyers a 24-13 lead in Game 3 and set up the match-winning ace on the next service.

Rau said it was exciting to make an impact in such a big moment.

"It felt really good to finally go into the game and finally score one of those winning points for us," she said.

Rau and her senior teammates were acknowledged before the game by their parents and the St. Joseph fans for their accomplishments over the seasons. And after the victory, they celebrated by spraying first-year coach Brian Froebel with silly string.

Rau said her and the other seniors had been building up to this point for four years.

"It's really exciting because it's our senior year and we've been looking forward to this since freshman year," she said. "Hopefully we'll take it all the way to state and win it big."

Froebel said that most importantly, the Lady Flyers are on a roll heading into the playoffs. After losing their first district match of the season at Austin Hyde Park on Saturday, St. Joseph recovered to win its final two matches, and put together what Froebel called a complete effort against the Lady Lions to close out the regular season.

"It was a good night, a great atmosphere," he said. "We had a lot going on with senior night and parents night, so there were a lot of distractions that could have caused the girls to lose focus. But the opposite happened. They were inspired."

"They took control. That might have been the best energy and quality we've played with all season."

The Lady Lions brought the deficit to one point in Game 1 at 9-8 before the Lady Flyers pulled away and finished on a 16-6 run. The momentum carried into the next game when St. Joseph forced timeouts after building leads of 6-1 and 17-3. The game finished 25-7 in favor of the Lady Flyers.

"We worked so hard for this win, and it really showed," said senior Amy Lott. "We're really thankful that this day finally came where we win district. We've got that out of the way and now we need to go to state."

Reaching the state finals has been a goal of the team all season, and with the district championship secured, they said the focus is now on the playoffs. They will play a team from El Paso or Houston in the first round depending how the other TAPPS districts finish.

"This is just what we were aiming for," said senior Melita Pitts. "We wanted to win district, then bi-district, and go regionals and hopefully win state. This just means a lot to everyone because this is our last year."

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