Crusaders win pair of volleyball matches

Mayer Lutheran vs. Cleveland

The Mayer Lutheran volleyball team won its first home game of the season, defeating Cleveland 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-14).

“It was a great first home match feeling in the Crusader gym tonight,” said coach Joelle Grimsley. “The gym was filled with family, friends, students and our pep band. We were able to celebrate and recognize our parents tonight. Our program is blessed to have the support and encouragement from all our families.”

The Crusaders came out a bit shaky and made a few errors which Cleveland was able to jump on.

“As the set started to play out the girls started to feel their home court and were able to play through their errors,” said Grimsley.

Livi served a strong seven serves, while Marley led with seven kills, and Ada followed with three. Izzy was able to get seven assists with the help of her sister Clara getting 10 digs up to her.

The second set went much easier for the Crusaders, as they put the early errors behind them.

“Set two was much smoother for the Crusaders and we were able to run a much more effective offense,” said Grimsley. “Marley had five kills, Mari four and Hallie three as our offense was able to spread out a bit more this set. Mari also led the team in this set with two big blocks.”

In set three, the Crusaders worked very hard on running an uptempo offense and move defensively.

“It was a great evening and it is exciting for a coach to see their team working hard and getting better and better every time they step on the court,” said Grimsley.

Team stats:

Serve: 65 — 73 89% 13 aces

Attacks: 42 kills KE 326%

Blocks: 5

Digs: 51

Set Assists: 42

Individuals:

Olivia Corey: 4 assists

Iris Husberg: 1 kill

Ada: 6 kills 1 blocks 1 dig

Courtney: 2 kills 2 digs

Livi: 17 — 18 7 digs

Ellie: 8 assists 1 dig

Hallie: 6 kills 2 blocks

Mari: 11-12 7 kills 2 blocks 4 digs

Izzy: 11 — 11 3 aces 4 kills 27 assists 7 digs

Clara: 20 digs

Marley: 11-12 14 kills 1 block 8 digs

Mayer Lutheran vs. Belle Plaine

There was plenty of excitement for the showdown between former conference rivals when the Crusaders took on the Tigers Thursday night, with Mayer Lutheran winning in four (23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-21).

“The gym was just packed tonight, and we knew they would be loud,” said Grimsley.

The first set went back and forth with some very long rallies. Neither team led by more than two the entire set.

“One of our goals was to make sure they did not get on any long runs, and we accomplished that in set one,” said Grimsley. “Really, we felt we were playing great and to just fight hard in the next set. Our kill efficiency was 125% which was not high enough to beat this team.”

Set two started out very similar to set one. It was a battle back and forth with long exciting rallies and not many mistakes. Then the Tigers pulled ahead to 11–7. The Crusaders hit into the blocks and made a few unforced errors.

“Before we knew it, the score was 7–14 and I had to call another time out,” said Grimsley. Then the Crusaders slowly started to chip away at the deficit. Courtney and Ada had a couple of big kills. Livi went back to the service line at 11-15 and walked away from the line with the score at 18-15. The rally was thanks to great defense, blocking and Marley with two big kills. Livi served aggressively with three aces and caused many out of system plays for Belle Plaine. Mari and Marley stayed focused also on the service line and ended the set with an ace by Marley.

“We finished the set outscoring the Tigers 14–4,” said Grimsley. “We just kept talking about play one point at a time and volleyball is definitely a game of momentum.”

The third set went back and forth for a while and the Crusaders had a four-point lead

when the Tigers tied it back up at 21-21. The Crusaders finished strong with a perfect serve receive by Clara, a quick sharp set by Olivia and the kill for the win by Ada.

In the fourth set, the Crusaders took a demanding lead at 10–3, but the Tigers fought back to a score of 21–20. Both teams showed hard work and excellent defense.

“Our back row defense played very scrappy and with the intent of not letting that ball touch the floor,” said Grimsley. “Livi had four digs and Clara three in this set. Marley led with five kills and Hallie four. This gave Izzy the opportunity to really spread out our offense. Overall, a great night for the Crusaders. It was definitely a battle back and forth and so good to see our girls fight even when down in set two. Belle Plaine is a great team and the rallies and overall play was very fun for our girls to experience.”

Team Stats:

Serving: 90-97 93% 9 aces

Set Assists: 44

Blocks: 14

Digs: 73

Attacks: 42 kills 102% KE

INDIVIDUAL STATS:

Olivia Corey: 6 assists

Ada: 6 kills 4 blocks 3 digs

Courtney: 5 kills 2 blocks 8 digs

Livi: 19 — 20 2 aces 13 digs

Ellie: 5 assists

Hallie: 6 kills 5 blocks

Mari: 15 — 16 1 ace 13 kills 6 blocks 4 digs

Izzy: 17 — 18 3 aces 2kills 4 blocks 19 assists 11 digs

Clara: 11 — 11 7 assists 20 digs

Marley: 16 — 16 3 aces 12 kills 6 blocks 2 assists 9 digs

Additional success

The C team went 2-1 in the Southwest Christian tournament, beating Hutchinson and HLWW. The B team was fourth out of 11 teams at the Lakeville South Tournament.