John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
WEST BURLINGTON — Wins like these, Mary Kate Bendlage said, can pay off in October.
Holy Trinity’s five-set comeback against West Burlington on Thursday night felt like the crucible of the postseason, but it was just another night in the SEI Superconference South Division.
And the Crusaders keep finding ways to turn these nights into victories.
The 18-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-21, 18-16 triumph was a marathon of momentum shifts, and one of survival for Holy Trinity.
“Down the road,” said Bendlage, a senior outside hitter who led the Crusaders with 20 kills, “it shows us we’re capable of anything.”
The Crusaders, ranked No. 3 in Class 1A, were at times hot and other times sluggish in the first two sets, and West Burlington, No. 10 in Class 2A, took advantage of that inconsistency.
The Crusaders led 7-1 in the first set, and let it get away. They were up 24-23 in the second set, and gave up three consecutive points.
“I thought we were kind of on a rollercoaster those first two games,” Holy Trinity coach Melissa Freesmeier said. “We came out hot, and then we kind of let them back into it. You can’t do that — you’ve got to press, keep the gas on.”
The Crusaders were pounding the ball, but the Falcons always seemed to be in the right spot.
“We were just playing sloppy, not playing Holy Trinity volleyball,” Bendlage said. “I think we were a little nervous coming into it, knowing they were scrappy and that hitting the ball was going to be a lot harder because they dig everything up.”
Holy Trinity outlasted a West Burlington rally in the third set — the Crusaders were up 19-11 at one point — and the shift in fortune could be felt.
“We knew we had to have it,” Freesmeier said. “We had some great plays down the stretch.
“We’re down 2-0, their crowd was a lot louder than ours and they had a lot more momentum,” Bendlage said. “But we got them down early in the third set, and they couldn’t come back from that. That got our crowd going and it really helped us push through.”
West Burlington led 9-3 and 15-12 in the fourth set before the Crusaders took control. Anna Bendlage’s ace gave Holy Trinity set point, and Holy Trinity closed out the set on a serving error by the Falcons.
The fifth set was its own twisting road course. A tip and two kills by Presley Myers gave the Crusaders three match points, but West Burlington had every answer until Holy Trinity got the final two points, one on a kill from Adalyn Kruse, to finish the win.
“We definitely picked up our communication, and came together as a team,” Mary Kate Bendlage said. “That shows a lot about us.”
“I thought in games 1 and 2, it looked like maybe we had quit a little bit,” Freesmeier said. “But I told them, ‘You know what? You didn’t quit. You didn’t quit in 3, 4 and 5.’ I’m proud of these kids tonight. It’s been an emotional week for us, so, it’s a great win.”
The dig totals for the Crusaders were impressive. Teagan Snaadt had 40 digs. Mary Kate Bendlage and Taegan Denning each had 27 digs. Natalie Randolph had 19 digs. Myers had 14 digs, and Anna Bendlage had 12.
Holy Trinity also had strong defense up front. Myers had nine blocks. Kruse had four. Mary Kate Bendlage and Randolph had three.
“I thought they pulled together (defensively),” Freesmeier said. “We dug some balls. We had a little bit of the problem with the tips early on, they found some holes. But we were better defensively.”
Myers had 19 kills. Randolph had 10 kills and 32 assists. Kruse had nine kills. Anna Bendlage had seven kills and 20 assists. Denning had five kills.
Kruse, a freshman, was especially effective serving, going 23-of-23 with four aces. Myers was 22-of-22 with three aces. Mary Kate Bendlage and Anna Bendlage were each 13-of-13 serving with an ace. Randolph was 17-of-18 serving with an ace. Denning was 21-of-22.
“I knew this was going to be a dogfight,” Freesmeier said. “I was hoping we wouldn’t be down 0-2, but that’s what it was.
“And the end result was great.”
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