WAPELLO – Senior Natalie Randolph hadn’t played Burlington Notre Dame since the Nikes knocked off HTC at the state tournament her sophomore year.
She sat on the sidelines her junior year after suffering an injury in the preseason in 2022, but she never rotated out of the lineup in the three matches Tuesday at the Wapello Tournament.
And she helped the Crusaders to the title including a 25-23, 25-15 win over the Nikes in the championship match.
“That was definitely big, I haven’t played Notre Dame since they beat us in the state tournament so it was something I was looking forward too, Randolph said.
“It’s definitely a great feeling to be back on the floor with my friends. I think we’re moving well and really connecting, and I’m excited about the season.”
Randolph is playing in a full leg brace but said it wasn’t restricting her movement too much.
The Crusaders went 4-0 including wins over Columbus, Central Lee and Wilton in Pool B setting up the title match with the Nikes.
The Nikes advanced to the title match going 3-0 through pool play, but gave up a 17-21 loss to host Wapello before rolling to a 15-6 tiebreaker win to advance to the championship.
HTC Head Coach Melissa Freesmeier said the Nikes are never to be taken lightly and the first set showed that.
“You’re gonna get their best game every time. They play great defense, are very tenacious and they have big hitters in the front row,” Freesmeier said.
“That first set let us know we can go against adversity and comeback to win against a good team.”
The Crusaders jumped out to a 6-1 early lead behind Randolph’s six straight points from the service line in the first set. A block up front by sophomore Presley Myers gave the Crusaders the early margin. Myers had 85 blocks from the middle as a freshman last year.
The Nikes would rally to tie the game at 9 and then the two perennial rivals, arguably two of the best Class 1A programs in the state, showed why going back and forth with ties at 10, 15, 16, 17, and 18 before senior Mary Kate Bendlage hit a kill from midcourt to midcourt to give HTC a 20-18 lead. Randolph would get a kill to make it 21-18 with the title match going to 25 points per set.
Notre Dame would put another run together to tie things at 29 after a Myers kill gave HTC a one-point lead. A tip from the Crusader side would fall just outside the line to tie things up. Myers would then get what could be a patented kill off a Randolph set in the middle to make it 24-23 and Taegan Denning would get the next service point for the win.
The Crusaders would run away in the second set with the Nikes never getting closer than five after trailing 7-2 early on.
Myers said the weekend tournament gave the Crusaders energy for Tuesday.
"We went 3-3 this weekend and the whole first pool we went 3-0. Then we got an awakening. That, losing those games, gave us the adrenaline we needed for this tournament. We had fun and all that energy out there really helped us come back strong in the championship," she said.
Freesmeier said she challenged the Crusaders after this weekend’s letdown in the Gold bracket play after starting the Bondurant-Farrar Invitational 3-0.
“I challenged them late on Saturday. We had a 3-hour wait going into the Gold pool and we came out flat. I challenged them against Indianola and told them every point counts. Get the point or don’t - you have to be there for your teammates and today they did that,” she said.
“The more and more these kids play together the more they believe in each other and that’s a key going down the stretch.”
Central Lee went 0-4 on the day falling to the Crusaders 21-10 and 21-18, Wilton 21-14, 21-13 and Columbus 21-18, 10-21, 15-13.
In the second set of the match with HTC, Central Lee tied things up at 16 when junior Kylie Fortune got a kill from the right side. The Hawks and Crusaders would stay tied at 17 and 18, but a kill from Bendlage deep gave HTC a one-point lead and then two errors on the Hawks' side gave the Crusaders that match.
Randolph and Mary Kate Bendlage were both 43-49 attacking with Bendlage racking up 21 kills to Randolph's 19 on the night. Myers had 23 kills to lead HTC. Randolph had 36 assists and was 63-63 serving with 12 aces. Bendlage had 30 digs and Randolph had 29.
Taylor Jones led the Lady Hawks at the net with 15 kills, four blocks and 22 digs. Halle Lampe had 10 kills and 18 digs. Ellie Lake had 18 digs and 20 assists with three aces on the night.
Holy Trinity improves to 4-3 on the year and will travel to No. 8 New London on Thursday.
Freesmeier said New London will be hungry for an upset.
"They’ll be digging, digging, digging and we have to keep our firepower going at that. We’ve got some great hitters all over the court. That’s the key - pass and get the ball everywhere," Freesmeier said.
Central Lee falls to 1-7 on the year and travels to Van Buren on Thursday night.
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