Hardware in hand for Holy Trinity

WEST BURLINGTON – Holy Trinity Catholic ran the table at the Southeast Iowa Super Conference volleyball finals Saturday. And did so playing some of their best volleyball of the year.
The Class 1A, 2nd-ranked HTC Lady Crusaders didn’t drop a set in pool play Thursday and then repeated the feat on Saturday as they blew through Central Lee 25-21, 25-15, Van Buren County,  and Burlington Notre Dame in the championship 25-18, 25-22. The Nikes and Central Lee were the only teams that even got to 20 points against the blue.
Head Coach Melissa Freesmeier said it was some of the best volleyball the Crusaders have played this year and that’s good because the post-season is just five matches away.
“We looked really good tonight and at times really, really good. I know we didn't miss that many services, we moved the ball well ,” Freesmeier said.
“I thought Notre Dame played really well and moved their serve toward Addie (Kruse) to keep her from attacking and we now we know how to make that adjustment. But I’m just really happy with the way we played tonight."
The Crusaders had leads of more than nine over all three opponents including the opening set of the night against the Hawks. Central Lee was able to make some runs and force a couple HTC timeouts to regroup and get a side out, but the Crusaders always found an answer out of the breaks to pull away at the end.
After a couple of ties in the early going of the second set, the Crusaders quickly pulled away to move into the semifinals against Van Buren where they quickly sent the Warriors into the consolation bracket against Wapello.
The Crusaders had leads of a dozen before the Nikes were able to put together a couple runs in the championship match, but with Adalyn Kruse pounding hits from the right outside spot, and Presley Myers killing just about every Nike run with a middle attack that’s becoming almost unstoppable, HTC had little trouble getting handed some hardware.
Freesmeier was quick to move the conversation to the post-season following the win.

“We go into next week and we've got Notre Dame again and they're going to be ready to play. They're a scrappy team, they swing well, and I thought they did a great job tonight,” Freesmsier said.
“This is always a big win for us here, but we’re not done yet. We're just going to keep getting better. We've got five matches left and then its post-season. So we say what's our next step, and that's to get better this week of practice."
Senior Presley Myers, who finished the night with 24 kills, said the conference tournament is great way to get the team in post-season mode.
“Recently, we've had a lot of success and I think that really builds an energy and kind of an outlook on the season especially leading into postseason. I think that playing in big games like these and in front of big crowds playing multiple games back-to-back is really just preparing us for postseason,” she said.
“We were just talking about some of the girls being a little nervous and I told them, “Just take it like you’re preparing for state’. I love that environment. You have all these fans that are cheering for you and you get some of that here, too. But state is louder than any other game. It's the best game you'll ever play.”
Calli Kruse, a sophomore who sat out last season with a knee injury and sister of junior Adalyn, said getting to enjoy the conference title on the court this year along with her sister has been memorable.
“She provides a lot of positive feedback and some negative feedback, but I know she’s trying to push me and help. But this was super fun and we both always try to play our best game.”
Adalyn Kruse led the Crusaders with 33 kills over the six games Saturday night. Myers had 24, Elizabeth Griffin had 10 kills and Olivia Bendlage had eight. Kruse was also 28 of 28 serving with a couple aces and had 16 digs. Griffin led the Crusaders in digs with 19 and was perfect at the line going 19-for19 with an ace. Makayla Simpson had four blocks and Myers added three solo blocks.
For the Hawks, Chloe Haigh had five kills. Taylor Jones and Nora Lampe each had four kills. Jayden Mueller had 17 digs and Jones dug up nine balls to lead the Hawk defense. Kenna Sandoval put up 16 assists in the win.