The STA volleyball team left Thursday morning for the State tournament in Cape Girardeau. Members of the Spirit Club decorated the Quad with streamers and chalk. They wrote phrases such as “Go Stars” and “Good Luck at State” on the sidewalk. After first period, students gathered in the Quad and cheered as the team came out of the Goppert Center.

“Everyone [on the volleyball team] freaked out,” senior volleyball player Maddie Torti said. “We all walked up the stairs and I remember Zoe [Jackson] was in front of me and she gasped and I looked and got the chills.”

“We just really wanted to get people pumped and send volleyball off in a very positive way and show that we’re very proud of them,” Spirit Club president MaryMichael Hough said.

According to Spirit Club member and sophomore Mia Schloegel, Hough came up with idea of decorating the Quad and asked Spirit Club sophomores to help. They decorated Thursday morning at 7 a.m.

“I think everyone responded thinking it was a nice way to support our team,” Schloegel said.

“It was honestly one of the coolest experiences I’ve had at STA yet,” Torti said. “I just really felt important and it was so cool.”