Senior Mary Kate Bendlage (13) battles for a ball above the net with a Danville Bear Wednesday in Fort Madison. Holy Trinity won in three sets to advance to the Class 1A Region 8 semifinals Monday night.
Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC
Senior Natalie Randolph works up an assist in the second set Wednesday night. Randolph and the Crusaders rolled to a 3-set win over Danville in Fort Madison.
Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC
Sophomore Presley Myers goes for a patented middle net attack against the Danville Bears Wednesday night in Class 1A Region 8 post-season action.
Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC
John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
FORT MADISON - The first point for Holy Trinity’s volleyball team in its sweep of Danville in Wednesday’s Class 1A Region 8 quarterfinal was a kill by Presley Myers.
The second point was also a Myers kill.
The fourth point was a Myers block.
The game plan for the No. 3 Crusaders worked to perfection in the 25-11, 25-10, 25-15 win.
Myers and freshman Adalyn Kruse controlled the middle, and that opened up Holy Trinity’s outside, one part of a dominant show of offense and defense for the Crusaders.
“That energy that we keep up, we keep it rolling until the last point,” said Myers, who had 11 kills and eight blocks. “When we’re aggressive in the middle, and stay aggressive, then we send it outside. Our outsides slam it.”
“They’re very active in the middle,” Holy Trinity coach Melissa Freesmeier said of Myers and Kruse. “They got some big blocks.”
It was a balanced attack that had everybody posting big numbers. Mary Kate Bendlage had 10 kills. Taegan Denning had seven kills. Natalie Randolph had five kills. Kruse had four kills and Anna Bendlage had three kills.
“For Presley to go early, it opened up our pin hitters,” said Mary Kate Bendlage. “Taegan, Natalie and Anna were lights out tonight.”
Myers, a sophomore, and Kruse, a freshman, have formed a potent middle combination this season.
“I’ve learned a lot from her,” Kruse said. “We work together so much, I think we’re feeding off each other.”
Kruse is experiencing her first postseason, but has approached it much like the regular season.
“It’s nerve-wracking at first, but then it’s just a normal game to me,” Kruse said. “I’ve been in serious situations, I’ve played club (volleyball) all my life. It’s all the same to me.”
“She’s spectacular,” Mary Kate Bendlage said. “A lot of people don’t think of her as a freshman anymore. I know we expect great things out of her, and I know every night she’s going to show up and play well.”
Holy Trinity (29-10) led 15-11 in the first set before going on a run that would define the rest of the match. The Crusaders scored the final 10 points to take the set, then outscored Danville (13-15) 18-1 to open the second set.
“We did a good job of pushing, keeping the gas on, and our offense ran really smooth today,” Freesmeier said.
Danville couldn’t get anything going against Holy Trinity’s defense. Teagan Snaadt and Mary Kate Bendlage led the Crusaders with 19 digs each. Anna Bendlage had 11 digs, Randolph had 10 digs, and Denning had nine.
“We’ve been working on our defense every day in practice, and it’s paid off,” Kruse said. “We’re getting to most everything.”
“Our communication was on for every single ball,” Mary Kate Bendlage said.
“We were digging everything,” Myers said. “Teagan was on fire. There was one point where she got a dig on one side of the court, and then she was on the other side to get another one.”
Anna Bendlage led the Crusaders with 17 assists, while Randolph had 15. Randolph was 21-of-21 serving with an ace. Kruse was 12-of-14 serving with two aces. Denning was 18-of-19 serving with an ace. Anna Bendlage was 9-of-9 serving with an ace.
The Crusaders didn’t lose a set in their two matches this week. Now they face SEI Superconference South Division rival Notre Dame (26-14) in Monday’s regional semifinal.
“It was a spectacular week,” Mary Kate Bendlage said, “and now we look forward to Monday.”
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