Holy Trinity comes up short in Class 1A state quarterfinal loss to Gladbrook-Reinbeck

The Holy Trinity Catholic High School volleyball team ran into a buzz saw on Tuesday night in the form of 5-foot-11 senior Ava Wyatt.

And Wyatt cut the Crusaders' state tournament run short.

Wyatt put the Gladbook-Reinbeck team on her back and carried it to a 25-20, 14-25, 25-14, 25-22 victory over the Crusaders in the final Class 1A quarterfinal match of the night at Xtream Arena.

Third seed Gladbrook-Reinbeck (33-9) advances to the semifinals to face seventh seed AGWSR (19-23) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Holy Trinity closes its season with a 29-16 record.

On this night, Holy Trinity simply had no answer for Wyatt, who pounded down a match-high 24 kills.

"We came out with a little nerves in Game 1 and then we settled in and set two we played really, really well. That's what we needed to do in order to take the match," Holy Trinity head coach Melissa Freesmeier said. "(Wyatt) started going over the block of Anna (Bendlage). That's tough to stop. She's a great player."

"I think the first set you definitely saw the nerves," Holy Trinity junior Mary Kate Bendlage said. "Losing the first set is tough, but against Notre Dame we came out and pulled it out. Tonight we just didn't have that same energy. A few mistakes here and there and that's what ultimately against a great team we can't make the same mistakes over and over and over."

"We played our game. Not our best game, but our game," Holy Trinity senior Brooke Mueller said. "They played a great game. We just had a few too many errors that we could have cleaned up. Ultimately they came in and they were ready to play."

Holy Trinity rebounded from a slow start to knot the match at a set apiece.

The Crusaders had a 9-7 lead in the pivotal third set before the Rebels came storming back.

Wyatt got the hot hand, pounding down kill after kill over the Crusaders' block down the line.

By the time the third set was over, Gladbook-Reinbeck had seized the momentum.

"The next set was back and forth. We just gave up a big run or two here and there," Freesmeier said.

Holy Trinity battled back in the fourth set, leading 20-19 on a kill by Mueller, then forging a 21-20 lead.

Just four points from forcing a fifth set, Wyatt took command. She had three consecutive kills to give the Rebels the lead for good, then put the final two nails in the Crusaders' coffin with two final kills.

"They played a little bit better than we did tonight, but I'm proud of these kids. They fought. They didn't give in. They didn't quit," Freesmeier said. "Our seniors are amazing. I appreciate everything they've done for us. Brooke (Mueller), Kayla (Box), Alexa (Dingman) and Laura (Mehmert) they've had great, great careers with us. We are definitely going to miss them. But we've got some young kids and some kids coming up who will keep pushing and will want to get up here next year."

HOLY TRINITY

Kills — Presley Myers 12, Mary Kate Bendlage 10, Kayla Box 6, Brooke Mueller 4, Taegan Denning 2, Anna Bendlage 1

Assists — A.Bendlage 29, Mueller 3, MK.Bendlage 1

Serving — Mueller 21-21 (4 aces), A.Bendlage 19-20 (1 ace), Denning 14-15, Laura Mehmert 10-11 (2 aces), M.Bendlage 10-11 (2 aces), Box 6-7 (1 ace), Alexa Dingman 2-4

Blocks — Box 3, Myers 3, M.Bendlage 2, Mueller 1, A.Bendlage 1

Digs — Mueller 18, M.Bendlage 14, Teagan Snaadt 10, Denning 6, A.Bendlage 3, Box 1

GLADBROOK-REINBECK

Kills — Ava Wyatt 24, Kennedy Brant 8, Lily Dripps 8, Megan Cooley 8, Jaden Hansen 3, Emma McClintock 2

Assists — McClintock 44, Madisyn Eggers 2, Wyatt 1, Kloie Hendricks 1, Breehan Dubberke 1, Cooley 1

Serving — Cooley 18-18 (1 ace), Eggers 17-17 (2 aces), Dubberke 11-12 (1 ace), McClintock 9-10 (1 ace), Wyatt 13-15 (1 ace), Hendicks 14-16 (1 ace)

Blocks — Brant 4, McClintock 2, Wyatt 2, Dripps 2, Cooley 1

Digs — McClintock 15, Cooley 12, Eggers 11, Wyatt 10, Abby Sienknecht 8, Dubberke 5, Dripps 3, Hendicks 1

Records — Holy Trinity 29-16, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 33-9.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Gladbrook-Reinbeck ousts Holy Trinity in four sets at state volleyball