Tyler Zippay shines at Lindbergh with a little help from his friends

Zippay’s decision to transfer to Lindbergh High from De Smet, which he helped lead to the Class 3 state championship last season, for his senior season sent shockwaves throughout the Missouri boys volleyball community this offseason.

“It was really just because most of my friend group goes to Lindbergh,” Zippay said. “I’ve played with a lot of guys here, but it wasn’t a volleyball decision. I just liked my friend group here, and I wanted to be with them my senior year.”

Lindbergh coach Atom Zuniga heard whispers Zippay might be coming during the club season.

Zuniga is an assistant coach with High Performance’s 17u Royal, and Zippay plays for the 18u Royal team.

“We had talked about a little bit, but you know, it was nothing that I could take seriously just because I know how hard of a process that is,” Zuniga said. “And then I guess I heard officially that it was happening, probably the middle of last summer, a little bit before the school year. And then everything kind of happened quickly. So, it was a whirlwind.”

It’s not every day that a reigning Post-Dispatch All-Metro first-team setter with a state championship under his belt transfers schools heading into his senior year.

Add to it that Lindbergh already had a talented roster and the ingredients for success were there.

“It certainly feels like he was the missing piece,” Zuniga said. “We returned a good amount of talented and experienced players, but his value is indescribable because of how much he contributes to every aspect of the game for us this year, as a setter, as an attacker, as a blocker, as a defender, as a server. I mean, he does it all. So, he definitely brings a large component of success to any team that he’s a part of and we’re extremely grateful that it’s been able to work out the way it has.”

Lindbergh is out to a 21-4 start, its best mark since reaching the Class 4 quarterfinals in 2015.

A 6-foot-2 Rockhurst University signee, Zippay leads the team in kills (2.81 a set) and aces (29 total) and averages 4.59 assists while running a 6-2 with fellow setter Cohen Boehm. Zippay ran a 5-1 during De Smet’s championship run but has flourished showing off his entire game.

“I just knew the guys wanted to win and we had the pieces in place,” Zippay said. “I didn’t know what the lineup was going to look like, but I knew we were going to be solid all around. We just have a deep team that anyone can fill the roles.”

Wyatt Clark (2.15 kills) is a four-year starter who has physically grown into his natural middle attacker role. Outside hitter Parker Hartman (2.34 kills) was an all-conference player last year who has improved his shot making and shot selection. Luke Rohrbach (1.43 kills) has emerged as the other middle attacker and he just signed with Westminster College.

Boehm (5.15 assists) has displayed improved decision making and freshman Gabe Scheve has filled a huge hole at libero. Scheve, a setter on his club team that won a national championship, has quickly become the backbone of the Flyers’ defense and serve receive.

“It certainly created some complications within our lineup and our roster, but it was a great problem to have,” Zuniga said of Zippay’s addition to the roster. “And I think our guys are mature enough and smart enough volleyball players to recognize the value that a player like that brings to a team and welcomed him with open arms and it’s been a really smooth transition so far.”

Team chemistry has played a major role in Lindbergh’s success.

“I think that’s one of our biggest strengths as a team, because we have a lot of older people and our younger guys, they’re very mature and they know what it takes to win,” Zippay said. “And they know you need a positive attitude and to be there for your teammates for the whole game.”

Zippay certainly knows what it takes to win at the highest of levels.

“There’s definitely something to be said for championship experience and postseason experience,” Zuniga said. “You can’t coach that stuff, and he certainly brings it in. We’re fortunate enough to have a number of high-level club players in our program that have won championships in club … so we have a lot of experience in that regard. And I think that’s been one of the keys to our success this year is that ability to play in high-level matches and keep our composure.”

Lindbergh’s four losses have come to No. 1 large school Vianney, No. 1 small school Webster Groves, No. 2 large school Lafayette and Parkway South (a Class 4 semifinalist last season), which it plays host to at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The Flyers were in each of those matches.

Ironically, it was Lindbergh’s first loss of the season to Vianney that gave the team a belief that a prolonged postseason run was possible.

“If you look at the scores, they certainly had a little bit of control throughout the match, but there was enough positives that were happening and because of how early on in the season that was and how new our team kind of was and the chemistry simply hadn’t developed to the point that it has now, we were able to recognize you know what our ceiling truly is,” Zuniga said.

Zippay sees some similarities between this Lindbergh team and last year’s De Smet team.

“That De Smet team, we just had so much fun all the time and I think that’s a very similar characteristic to this team,” Zippay said. “And just the depth, like no matter what lineup we put out there, we know we can be successful.”

A deep postseason run won’t be easy, with several tough teams on Lindbergh’s side of the bracket.

The Flyers are the top seed in the District 1 tournament and will play in the quarterfinal round at 7 p.m. Tuesday against either Cape Notre Dame or Fox at Oakville.

“It really just comes down to confidence in each other and having a consistent level of focus, which has been one of our main focus points all year,” Zippay said. “That’s what separates us from playing good versus playing bad.”