John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
FORT MADISON - The difference for Holy Trinity in Monday’s Class 1A regional semifinal against WACO was the game the Crusaders lost.
The 25-6, 23-25, 28-26, 25-17 win for the Crusaders was built on the run that just fell short in the second game.
And now they get a chance to face the team that has knocked them out of the last two postseasons.
No. 9 Holy Trinity (28-15) faces No. 5 Notre Dame (31-13) in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. regional final at Burlington High School. The Crusaders lost to the Nikes in the regional semifinal in 2020 and in the state semifinals last season.
“We’re going to go in on Wednesday night and fight,” Holy Trinity coach Melissa Freesmeier said.
WACO (27-7) provided the Crusaders with quite the battle in this match.
The first game was easy — Holy Trinity scored the final 14 points behind the serving of Mary Kate Bendlage, who had five of her 10 service aces in the match during that run.
“Set 1, I knew we were ready, but I didn’t expect it to be so dominating,” Freesmeier said. “We were glad it was.”
“I think we came out and showed who we are,” freshman middle hitter Presley Myers said.
But the Warriors didn’t go away. They scored six consecutive points with the second game tied at 18 to get to game point.
Holy Trinity scored the next five points, and appeared to tie the game at 24 when an Ellah Kissell tip appeared to go out of bounds untouched. But after a conference among the officials, it was ruled that Holy Trinity had touched the ball before it went out, giving the game to WACO.
The way the Crusaders finished, though, provided the fuel for the rest of the match, especially in the third game, when they trailed 25-24, led 26-25, and then finally pulled out the game.
“We came back and had a chance to win it, and I thought that that was big for momentum,” Freesmeier said. “The kids just stayed in it, kept fighting. The call at the end, we were like, you had the chance to win the game, but we shouldn’t have given them the opportunity. They were like, ‘All right, let’s go.’”
“We were down five and came back,” Bendlage said. “That call, it was the right call. But carrying that into the third set, we had all the momentum. That third set would have been much harder for us had we not finished (the second game) like we did.”
“We lost that second set,” Myers said. “There were little things we did, mistakes we made, that we knew we could fix. And we did do better in the third and fourth set.”
Holy Trinity took control of the fourth game, taking a 20-13 lead with a 5-0 run that included two more aces from Bendlage.
“I’m not usually one to serve that many aces, so that was kind of a surprise for me,” said Bendlage, who was 31-of-31 serving. “But I’ve been really focusing in on my serve.”
“When she puts the ball in play, she has some wicked, wicked serves,” Freesmeier said.
It was the second time the Crusaders defeated WACO this season. They won in three games in the SEI Superconference Tournament, an education for what they would face in this match.
“I think we learned we had to be on our toes, because they hit it hard every single time,” Holy Trinity setter Anna Bendlage said. “They place the ball well.”
Bendlage had a season-high 40 assists. She is in her first season as the Crusaders’ setter, pressed into a larger role after the season-ending knee injury to Natalie Randolph.
“Mostly, it’s just staying positive and listening to my coaches and my teammates, learning where to put the ball,” Bendlage said. “It was a lot, because I didn’t start setting until last year. But it’s good pressure.”
“I think she’s done really well,” said Mary Kate Bendlage. “For her never setting a varsity game, she’s taken to the role. She stays calm, cool and collected, which is all we need.”
The Crusaders kept their cool, and their momentum, and are one step away from returning to the state tournament.
“We had some unsung heroes on the night, all over the court,” Freesmeier said. “It was nice to see everyone involved tonight, and we’re going to need that again.
“That was fun. That’s what high school volleyball is all about.”
“Oh yeah,” Myers said. “It was fun.”
HOLY TRINITY STATISTICS
Anna Bendlage — 3 kills, 40 assists, 11-13 serving (2 aces), 10 digs, 1 block
Mary Kate Bendlage — 17 kills, 4 assists, 31-31 serving (10 aces), 15 digs, 5 blocks
Kayla Box — 13 kills, 1 assist, 10 digs, 4 blocks
Taegan Denning — 3 kills, 1 assist, 16-18 serving (3 aces), 12 digs
Alexa Dingman — 10-10 serving (3 aces), 1 dig
Laura Mehmert — 12-12 serving, 2 digs
Brooke Mueller — 7 kills, 1 assist
Presley Myers — 13 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Teagan Snaadt — 2 assists, 13 digs
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here