Crusaders advance to regional semis

FORT MADISON - Melissa Freesmeier figured her Holy Trinity volleyball team would find the holes in Sigourney’s defense.
It took the Crusaders a game, and then they started to roll.
Holy Trinity added a second sweep to their 2022 postseason resumé on Wednesday, rolling to a 25-21, 25-9, 25-17 win in a Class 1A Region 8 quarterfinal.
The ninth-ranked Crusaders (27-15) advance to play host to next Monday’s semifinal against WACO (27-6). It’s an all-SEI Superconference final four in the regional, with Notre Dame facing Winfield-Mount Union on the other side of the bracket.
The Crusaders were barely tested in Monday’s sweep of Wayne, but Sigourney (23-8) challenged them in the first game.
“Nobody’s going away at this point of the season,” Freesmeier said.
Sigourney stayed close in the first game before the Crusaders closed it out with back-to-back points.
“Set one, we were a little slow getting started,” Freesmeier said. “They came in with a nothing-to-lose attitude, and they were digging stuff up. I knew that if we kept pushing at them, we would get things to fall, and that’s what happened.”
The second game was a dominating show for the Crusaders’ hitters. Eighteen of their points came off kills, with junior Mary Kate Bendlage leading the charge. Bendlage, who had 16 kills in the match, had five in a 7-0 second-game run that put Holy Trinity up 8-2.
“She took some big swings for us, just kept pushing,” Freesmeier said.
Holy Trinity led 18-8 before the Crusaders went on a 6-0 run, with three kills from Presley Myers in that stretch. She then had a kill on game point.
The Crusaders erased Sigourney’s hopes, opening the third game with an 11-1 run. Sigourney got to within 23-15 before Holy Trinity closed the match on kills from Bendlage and Kayla Box.
Holy Trinity had some fun in the third game. Junior Natalie Randolph, out for the season with a knee injury, was back on the bench after undergoing surgery last week and missing Monday’s match. Freesmeier made sure on both Sigourney timeouts in the third game to bring the team over to where Randolph was sitting so she could be included.
“She is a big inspirational leader to these kids,” Freesmeier said. “She gave the pre-game speech on Monday night via FaceTime. We were glad to have her here tonight, so she could be here for the kids. She brings a lot to this group. They look up to her as a leader, and having her with us is going make all of the difference in the world.
“I know it’s huge for us and the staff, and the girls were excited. A lot of them didn’t know she was coming tonight. We weren’t sure. She’s here for good, and ready to keep this thing going.”
Bendlage added 13 digs and one assist, and was 13-of-14 serving with one ace. Kayla Box had seven kills and four blocks. Teagan Snaadt had one kill and eight digs. Taegan Denning had one kill and six digs, and was 12-of-12 serving with one ace. Myers had 13 kills, two digs and a block. Brooke Mueller had six kills, one assist, 15 digs, three blocks and was 7-of-7 serving. Anna Bendlage had 36 assists, 9 digs, a block and a kill, and was 10-of-10 serving. Alexa Dingman was 6-of-7 serving. Laura Mehmert was 22-of-23 serving with three aces, and added three digs.