NEW LONDON — Holy Trinity volleyball coach Melissa Freesmeier has seen a lot from her team in the opening two weeks of the season.
The Crusaders, ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, has played 11 matches so far, and has faced plenty of tests.
So far, so good.
The Crusaders opened SEI Superconference South Division play on Thursday, sweeping New London 25-9, 25-21, 25-19.
“I’ve seen a lot of good things,” Freesmeier said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons out there. We’re still getting used to some things, but I think as a whole we’re coming. We look really, really good at times.”
The Crusaders aren’t at their peak yet. This match had a few mistakes here and there, but in late August, that’s going to happen.
“I thought we had a few miscommunications here and there and that let them get points,” said senior Mary Kate Bendlage. “But we’ll get in the gym tomorrow and fix all of those little mistakes.”
It was a busy week for the Crusaders, who swept four matches to win the Wapello Tournament on Tuesday.
“Tuesday, we got better as the night went on,” sophomore middle hitter Presley Myers said. “Tonight we had a few runs where we let up, and there were things we could have done better.”
“Tuesday was a big test,” Bendlage said. “Each game kept getting harder and harder. And any time we play we’re going to get the other team’s best game. We know we have to go in with our best game, and not have an off night.”
The Crusaders dominated the opening set against the Tigers, who opened the season ranked No. 8 in Class 1A but fell out of the rankings on Thursday. Holy Trinity had a seven-point run that included three service aces from Taegan Denning, taking an 8-1 lead. A six-point run put the Crusaders up 15-4, then they closed the set with five consecutive points, the last one coming on a kill from Bendlage.
But New London (0-2) battled the Crusaders in the next two sets. The Tigers led 6-4, and later tied the set at 20 before Holy Trinity scored four consecutive points. A kill by Myers would close out the set.
The third set looked almost identical. New London led 17-16 before Holy Trinity scored five consecutive points, two coming on kills from Natalie Randolph. The Crusaders scored the final three points of the match, one off a Denning kill and the winner coming from a kill from Myers.
Myers, who had seven kills and four blocks, has grown in her role as the Crusaders’ top middle hitter since starting as a freshman.
“I think, since last year, I’ve grown a lot,” Myers said. “And together, as a team, I think we’ve grown a lot over the last year. In the offseason, we knew we wanted to have our best year, so we’ve worked hard to get to this point.”
Randolph, back after missing all of last season with a knee injury, led Holy Trinity with 12 kills and added 13 assists and eight digs. Bendlage had eight kills, 16 digs, and was 16-of-16 serving with an ace. Anna Bendlage had 12 assists and 14 digs. Denning was 15-of-15 serving with four aces, and added 13 digs. Teagan Snaadt had 13 digs.
The Crusaders have the weekend off, playing next Tuesday at home against Notre Dame.
“I think any time you can get a three-set win in our conference, it’s a good night for us, no matter what the score is,” Freesmeier said. “We knew New London was going to come out and defensively be strong. We just kept hitting at them.
“We’re hoping to take this week and go into next week and get better.”
“It does feel really good,” Bendlage said of the win. “And we’ll keep working.”
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