FORT MADISON - Presley Myers made an early statement, and there wasn’t any way Winfield-Mount Union could answer.
Myers, Holy Trinity’s junior middle hitter, took control of Wednesday’s Class 1A Region 2 quarterfinal from the first point, and the Crusaders cruised to a 25-13, 25-10, 25-9 win at Shottenkirk Gym.
Holy Trinity (27-12), ranked No. 3 in the state, will play host to Wapello (18-11) in Monday’s semifinal.
Myers, who finished the match with 20 kills, played a part in the first six points of the match, whether by block, tip, or kill, and left W-MU chasing the Crusaders the rest of the night.
“I know we just wanted to get up really early and fast,” Myers said. “We wanted to start with a lot of momentum, because early in the season we weren’t doing that until later in the set. We just wanted to overcome that in the postseason, get off on the right foot.”
“I think tonight showed we’re not here to mess around, that the postseason really means a lot to us,” said senior Anna Bendlage, who had 28 assists.
Getting Myers going early set the tone for the rest of the Crusaders’ offense, Bendlage said.
“She’s a super-intimidating player to other teams, so that connection really gets the blockers on the other side of the net focusing on her,” Bendlage said. “Then that opens up our (outside hitters).”
“She just sets the tone,” Holy Trinity coach Melissa Freesmeier said of Myers. “She and Anna have really been having a good connection, so we just saw it coming. They just build off each other.”
The Crusaders, the state runner-up in 1A last season, entered in their usual good postseason mood, playing off the Christmas music that has been playing during practice, an annual tradition.
“The most wonderful time of the year,” Freesmeier said, smiling.
“We actually had it going out in the lobby here earlier today,” Myers said, laughing.
Then they proceeded to dismantle the Wolves (13-10).
“It sets the right tone for postseason, definitely,” Myers said of how the Crusaders played. “I mean, really, everyone was just playing to their best abilities tonight. I thought we were talking really well. We were communicating. Everyone was just doing their part, and we were flowing really well.”
“We've been keying on a lot of things in practice, like missed serves and bad plays,” Bendlage said. “And so I think we really executed well tonight.”
Myers’ start was part of a 7-0 run by Holy Trinity to open the match. The Crusaders expanded that lead to 20-8 — Myers had the last three points of that run with two kills and a block — then closed out the set on another Myers kill.
Winfield-Mount Union was within 15-9 in the second set before the Crusaders went on an 8-0 run to take control. Myers had a kill to set up set point, and Holy Trinity closed out the set on a hitting error.
Holy Trinity opened the third set with another 7-0 run, and later scored 10 consecutive points.
“We just kept the pressure on, I thought, all night, and didn't really have too many lapses,” Freesmeier said.
“We were just really competitive tonight,” Myers said. “We didn’t let them get on many runs, and that was the goal tonight.
One step in the postseason journey was complete.
HOLY TRINITY STATISTICS
Kills — Presley Myers 20, Anna Bendlage 8, Adalyn Kruse 7, Olivia Bendlage 4, Elizabeth Griffin 2, Emma Mohrfeld 2
Assists — A.Bendlage 28, Teagan Snaadt 4, Kruse 3, Griffin 1, O.Bendlage 1
Serving — Snaadt 24-24 (1 ace), Griffin 17-18 (3), A.Bendlage 16-17 (1), O.Bendlage 6-6, Kruse 4-6, Myers 3-3, Eva Denning 1-1, Layne Schmidt 1-2.
Digs — Snaadt 18, Kruse 18, A.Bendlage 8, Griffin 6, O.Bendlage 5, Myers 4, Mohrfeld 3.
Blocks — Myers 5, O.Bendlage 4, A.Bendlage 1
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