FORT MADISON - Holy Trinity’s volleyball team got some momentum heading into this weekend’s SEI Superconference Tournament by sweeping through the Holy Trinity Classic on Monday night at Shottenkirk Gym.
The Crusaders, ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, didn’t drop a set in its four matches, defeating Danville (21-19, 21-19), Keokuk (21-7, 21-13) and Fort Madison (21-7, 21-9) in pool play before downing Burlington 21-17, 21-18 in the championship match.
That sets Holy Trinity (12-5) up for its conference tournament, which begins with pool play on Thursday.
“I thought we just built (momentum) with every set today,” Holy Trinity coach Melissa Freesmeier said. “This was a big win for us. We needed this tonight, so we can build on some things heading into the conference tournament.”
The Crusaders split six matches at the Lisbon Tournament on Saturday, but three of their wins in this tournament came against Class 4A schools.
What Freesmeier liked was how the Crusaders approached their offense. She would just like more consistency.
“When we’re good, we’re really good,” Freesmeier said. “We just can’t step back and stop hitting the ball. We’ve got to hit the ball in system, out of system, because when we hit the ball, we’re really good.”
The Crusaders got 26 kills each from Presley Myers and Adalyn Kruse, their two top hitters. Anna Bendlage added 10 kills.
“Everybody’s digging the ball, bringing it back at us,” Freesmeier said. “We kept coming back off scramble plays and getting points. We never quit on balls and I was proud of our team effort.”:
Central Lee defeated Danville 21-13, 22-20 to take this place. The Hawks went 2-1 in pool play, losing to Burlington 21-9, 21-7 before beating Mediapolis 18-21, 22-20, 15-13, and Wapello 21-15, 17-21, 15-8.
All of the Hawks’ wins came against Superconference opponents, which gave coach Amy Cook confidence heading into the conference tournament. Central Lee had lost three of its previous four matches coming into the tournament.
“We definitely did a lot better than how we’ve been playing,” Cook said. “We’ve been doing some reflecting on our play, and I do think you could see that in how we played tonight.
“When you see good competition, like we did tonight, it helps you see your strengths and weaknesses. There’s a lot we can learn from this, and we’ve got a couple of days of practice before we play on Thursday.”
Fort Madison went 1-2, defeating Keokuk (14-21, 21-19, 15-10) and losing to Danville (21-15, 21-18) and Holy Trinity.
The Bloodhounds beat Keokuk for the second time in two weeks.
“I think there were some people wondering was that a fluke last week, and did we really deserve to win that game,” Fort Madison coach Kelly Knustrom said. “I think tonight proved that we did. They earned that win, and they earned this one.”
Knustrom said her team needs to have better starts — the Bloodhounds lost the first set in all three of their matches.
“I didn’t think we came out very focused and there were some errors there,” she said. “But I thought the fight was there, and it’s getting better.”
HOLY TRINITY STATISTICS
Kills — Presley Myers 26, Adalyn Kruse 26, Anna Bendlage 10, Olivia Bendlage 8, Elizabeth Griffin 5, Emma Mohrfeld 4, Teagan Snaadt 1.
Assists — Griffin 30, A.Bendlage 27, Snaadt 5, Mohrfeld 3, Kruse 1, O.Bendlage 1
Serving — Kruse 37-39 (8 aces), A.Bendlage 31-31 (3), Snaadt 26-28 (2), Myers 20-21 (1), Griffin 18-22 (4), O.Bendlage 15-18 (3), Eva Denning 6-7.
Digs — Snaadt 34, Griffin 33, O.Bendlage 22, A.Bendlage 18, Kruse 15, Myers 11, Mohrfeld 4.
Blocks — Myers 12, Kruse 4, Mohrfeld 4, Griffin 1, O.Bendlage 1
FORT MADISON STATISTICS
Dayonna Davis —15 kills and 5 aces
Brylie Lorence — 8 kills
Sydney McEntee — 6 kills
Mara Smith — 19 assists and 3 aces
Kylie Lumino — 4 aces and 19 digs
Mackenzie Huebner — 20 digs
CENTRAL LEE STATISTICS
Kills: Taylor Jones - 36, Kylie Fortune 15, Haile Lampe - 20
Assists: Kenna Sandoval - 76
Digs: Jayden Mueller - 54, Sandoval 40.
Serving: Mueller 24-25 1 Ace, Sandoval 22-22 4 aces
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