Lady Hawks hold off No. 8 Crusaders at home

BY JOHN BOHNENKAMP
PCC SPORTS
DONNELLSON - It was volley after volley on the final point of the fourth set.
Holy Trinity had eight chances to get the point to stay alive in the set. All eight were fought off by Central Lee.
When Avery Hopper’s kill attempt went into the net, Central Lee won the set to stay alive.
That series summed up the Hawks’ 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12 win over the Crusaders in Tuesday’s SEI Superconference South Division match at Central Lee High School.
Central Lee (22-10) constantly fought the No. 8 (Class 1A) Crusaders.
“This was huge,” Central Lee coach Amy Cook said. “Huge for us. We’ve been struggling the last couple of games, and of course HTC is somebody who is a rival for us that we want to win against.
“The girls definitely had some perseverance today. We haven’t had that the last couple of games.”
Central Lee was swept by Holy Trinity (23-9) in a tournament at Mount Pleasant on Saturday, but this match had a different feel with the regional tournament beginning next week.
“Just to have a match where we’re playing against quality players — HTC has phenomenal volleyball players — it’s perfect timing for us to play a team like that,” Cook said. “And then to win, that’s an extra bonus.
“Like I said, I’m proud of the girls to have the perseverance to fight through to the end. I don’t think we’ve played many five-game matches. Plus it was Senior Night, so it was even an extra bonus.”
“They’re a great team,” Holy Trinity coach Melissa Freesmeier said. “We knew we would come in here tonight and it would be a dogfight. It’s a game of two points, two or three points every game. Maybe we made too many mistakes, but our kids fought hard. Both sides fought hard.
“They dug up some balls that should have been kills, that’s for sure.”
The first set was a sign of what was to come. Holy Trinity had a six-point run to take a 19-17 lead before the Hawks scored the next four points. The Crusaders then broke a 22-all tie by scoring the last three points, two coming on kills from Hopper and Brooke Mueller.
In the second set, Central Lee looked to be serving for match point, but a point was overruled after a discussion by the two officials. The Hawks then scored the last two points for the set.
Holy Trinity had a 23-20 lead in the third set before Central Lee scored the next two points. The Crusaders closed out the win with back-to-back points, one on a kill from Kassi Randolph.
The two teams were tied at 22 in the fourth set before the Hawks scored the last three points. 
The final set was tied at 12 before the Hawks again scored the last three points. Back-to-back kills by Abby Wellman touched off the celebration.
“We were mentally tough today,” Cook said. “And that was so good to see with where we’re at in the season.”