Holy Trinity had game point in the first game of Thursday’s SEI Superconference South Division match against New London, and couldn’t finish.
That’s been the story of the season for the No. 8 (Class 1A) Crusaders, who fell 27-25, 25-17, 25-22 to the 15th-ranked Tigers.
Holy Trinity (6-5 overall, 0-1 division) had plenty of moments to gain momentum against New London (2-0, 1-0), but couldn’t keep the energy going.
And as the schedule heads deeper into division play, it’s something that coach Melissa Freesmeier said has to change.
“We’ve been struggling since we started this year at finishing,” Freesmeier said. “You can talk and talk and talk about it, but you’ve got to get it done.”
That was especially evident in the first game, which set the tone for the rest of the match.
Holy Trinity, which led 19-14 and 20-15 in the game, allowed New London to rally, then fought off game point with a kill from Mary Kate Bendlage. A hitting error by the Tigers tied the game at 24, then Bendlage’s ace put the Crusaders one point from victory.
But New London would score the next three points, the last coming from a tip from Camryn Lair, and the Tigers were in command.
“Absolutely it was big momentum there,” Freesmeier said.
New London led the entire second game, opening with a 9-2 run. Holy Trinity got to within 12-10, but the Tigers would pull away.
The Crusaders led for most of the third game, but with an 18-14 lead allowed the Tigers to score the next six points. Holy Trinity got to within 23-22 when Presley Myers had a kill and then a block, but the Tigers would score the final two points to finish the match.
Holy Trinity is without junior Natalie Randolph, an emotional leader of the team who is out with a knee injury.
“These kids, they know they have the talent,” Freesmeier said. “Natalie’s an emotional leader, she is. I’m not here to make excuses, because this team can win ballgames. Yeah, we’ve been struggling, but we’ve got to find a way. We’ve got leaders, so we should be able to get it done.”
The Crusaders struggled with hitting errors and mental mistakes — they gave up a point down 20-19 in the third game on a red card because of a substitution infraction.
“I thought we had some kids step up,” Freesmeier said. “But we had some hitting errors here and there that you can’t do. Our conference is going to be a dogfight, and it’s never going to be an easy night. We’ve got to get it together.”
Bendlage led the Crusaders with 14 kills. Myers had eight kills. Kayla Box had three, Brooke Mueller had two and Taegan Denning had one.
Anna Bendlage had 26 assists and was 14-of-16 serving with two aces. Mary Kate Bendlage was 14-of-14 serving with two aces. Denning was 10-of-10 with an ace. Mueller was 8-of-9 and Alexa Dingman was 8-of-9. Laura Mehmert was 4-of-6.
Mueller had 23 digs. Teagan Snaadt had 18 digs. Anna Bendlage had 17 digs. Mary Kate Bendlage had 14. Denning had eight. Myers had three blocks and Mueller had one.
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