RACINE - All Devon Thomas wanted to do was keep the customers satisfied.

Not only did Thomas do just that, he might have been the difference for the Horlick High School boys volleyball team Tuesday night.

Inspired by the large turnout in the John R. Belden Fieldhouse, Thomas played much larger than his 5-foot-9 height and led the Rebels to a 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 22-25, 15-10 victory over St. Catherine's in a WIAA sectional semifinal.

Horlick (28-8) can earn its fourth state tournament berth since 2003 Thursday when it plays Case at 7 p.m. for the sectional championship at Greenfield. Case advanced with a 25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 25-23 victory over Greenfield.

Thomas, one of three returning starters for Horlick, came through with what he considered to be the signature performance of his high school career. He finished with 15 kills and 13 digs and seemed to get stronger as the match wore on.

"Tonight was just amazing," Thomas said. "This is like the biggest crowd we've ever had for volleyball. I didn't want to let any of them down, so I put my heart on the floor. I just love big crowds."

As the crowd became more engaged and contributed basketball-style taunts the likes of "You can't do that," Thomas became more of a pivotal force. Four of his kills came in the fourth game and three in the deciding fifth game. Several of them made statements with their sheer force.

"When it got to crunch time, he really stepped up his game and I think he's what got us over the hump," said Horlick coach Sam Firtko, who led Horlick to state championships in 1994 and '03. "He really made some key kills for us and just his hustle on the floor gets everybody else fired up. Thank goodness for D.J. today."

It appeared that heavily-favored Horlick would make a short night of this at first, but St. Catherine's (8-15-1) re-invented itself. Seemingly playing much looser starting in the third game, the Angels starting looking as if they might pull off a major upset.

"I just told them 'This is the last game of the season, there's nothing to lose and just go out there and play the best game you can and if it's meant to be, it'll happen,' " St. Catherine's coach Dan Lott said.

St. Catherine's captain Alex Grycowski again set the tone for the Angels with seven assists, 11 kills and 12 digs. Others who helped give Horlick a major scare were Marcus Boehm (eight assists, three kills, four digs), Justin Piette (eight kills, five block kills) and Sam Miles (six kills, six digs, five blocks).

If Thomas had the performance of his career for Horlick, Dillon Martinez had a typical night for the Rebels with 26 kills and 13 digs. Libero Michael Goetz added 12 digs.