HTC needs less than an hour to dispatch Tigers

QUICK WIN

“I think it was really important to get done early. We can get home early, get some sleep, get some rest, and get ready for the weekend.”

Adalyn Kruse, HTC sophomore hitter

NEW LONDON — It was best for Holy Trinity’s volleyball team to just get in and get out with what’s coming up in the next week.
The fourth-ranked (Class 1A) Crusaders needed just 51 minutes to sweep New London 25-9, 25-12, 25-7 on Thursday night.
The Crusaders (5-2 overall, 3-0 Superconference South Division) are heading into a stretch that includes the Lisbon tournament on Saturday, their own tournament on Monday, and the SEI Superconference tournament next Thursday and Saturday. It’s a lot of volleyball for a team that hasn’t played a lot of matches.
“We’re going to be busy in the next week or so,” Holy Trinity coach Melissa Freesmeier said. “But that’s what we need — playing games against good competition so we can get better.”
“We’re definitely excited,” said junior middle hitter Presley Myers, who celebrated her birthday with a team-high 13 kills and three blocks. “I think we’re going into it with a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season, and I think we’re going to do well.”
The Crusaders didn’t waste any time against the Tigers (1-9, 0-3).
“I think it was really important to get done early,” said sophomore Adalyn Kruse, who had five kills and eight digs. “We can get home early, get some sleep, get some rest, and get ready for the weekend.”
Holy Trinity jumped on the Tigers early, scoring the first seven points of the first set on the way to a 13-3 lead.
“We’ve been starting slow a lot,” Kruse said. “I think it was good that we played with a lot of energy.”
“Matches like this may not look as difficult as some of the ones we play,” Myers said. “But they are just because there wasn’t a ton of energy in the gym. We have to work hard to keep the energy up, and I thought we did that. We stayed pretty consistent, had a constant level of energy.”
New London had early leads in the second and third sets before the Crusaders went on long runs. They had an eight-point run in the second set and a 16-point run in the third set. That third-set run included 15 consecutive service points from freshman Olivia Bendlage, who had four aces in the stretch.
“We wanted them to be focused and get the job done,” Freesmeier said. “And I thought we did that tonight.”
The Lisbon tournament on Saturday includes the host school, which was in the IGHSAU rankings until the newest one that came out on Thursday, as well as No. 10 (Class 2A) West Burlington.
“We’re getting close to regionals, so I think any good competition we see is going to help us,” Kruse said.
“We’re not going to be practicing, but we’re going to be on the court seeing some good teams, so that means we’re going to be getting better,” Freesmeier said.
“I think we’re going to do really good,” Myers said. “We’re all getting more comfortable with each other. That’s what we’ve been working on, chemistry and communication and stuff like that, and I think we did really good with that tonight. That kind of progress is going to help us.”
HOLY TRINITY STATISTICS
Kills — Presley Myers 13, Anna Bendlage 6, Adalyn Kruse 5, Olivia Bendlage 5, Emma Mohrfeld 2.
Assists — A.Bendlage 17, Elizabeth Griffin 12, Teagan Snaadt 3, Kruse 1, Mohrfeld 1
Serving — O.Bendlage 20-20 (5 aces), Snaadt 19-20 (5 aces), A.Bendlage 16-16 (1 ace), Kruse 12-13 (2 aces), Griffin 9-9, Myers 9-9 (1 ace), Eva Denning 3-4.
Digs — Snaadt 12, O.Bendlage 11, Kruse 8, Griffin 6, Mohrfeld 1
Blocks — Myers 3, A.Bendlage 2