State volleyball: Holy Trinity finally sends Janesville packing

CEDAR RAPIDS — Nine times Holy Trinity had faced powerful Janesville at the state volleyball tournament.

Nine times the Wildcats had sent the Crusaders home, ending their quest for a state championship.

On Tuesday night, David finally slay Goliath.

Fourth seed Holy Trinity twice bounced off the canvas after dropping sets to Janesville.

And in the decisive fifth set, this group of Crusaders did something nine other Holy Trinity teams had failed to do — send the Wildcats packing.

Holy Trinity's nail-biting 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 15-8 victory over Janesville at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse sends the Crusaders (33-10) into the semifinals to face top seed Notre Dame (36-8) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

And it sends fifth seed Janesville home with a 25-16 record.

At long last, Holy Trinity was able to vanquish its Goliath.

“It’s amazing. It’s one of the best feelings," said Holy Trinity outside hitter Brooke Mueller, who had 13 kills. "We’re up at state and we’re in the quarterfinals. Normally we get beat by them in the championship or along the way. To beat them out of the tournament so they can’t go is an amazing feeling.”

“It’s awesome. They’re a great program, a great coaching staff. They’re not going to quit on you. We knew that going in," Holy Trinity head coach Melissa Freesmeier said of Janesville. "You can’t expect them to lay down and die. They got here and they’ve had a good season. This is the state tournament. This is what you’re going to get a lot of games.”

Janesville led most of the way in a tight first set, breaking a 20-20 tie on a block by Lauryn Podhajsky and Kamry Umthum, then ending it on a tip by senior Pyper McCarville, who had a match-high 24 kills.

For a time, it looked like Janesville would make it 10 straight wins over the Crusaders.

But this group of Crusaders was having none of that.

“We just wanted to push ourselves because in the beginning we were really nervous. I think we fixed that toward the end and we came together as a team," said Holy Trinity sophomore Natalie Randolph, who had 11 kills and 14 assists.

Mueller began to find her groove on the outside, as she has been wont to do over her three years. She had five kills as the Crusaders rallied late to win the second set.

“I don’t really let pressure get to me. Mistakes happen. I just kind of let them go," Mueller said. “I don’t really worry about it because I have trust in our team that we’re going to come back.”

“Brooke is huge. She’s that kid on the outside that sometimes doesn’t get the credit she deserves, but she has so many shots," Freesmeier said. "When she gets back in transition, she can really, really hurt you. She takes a sharp cross. She takes it down the line. She can roll it in the middle. Tonight she had a great, great match for us.”

Holy Trinity won the pivotal third set and was set to close out the match after a cross-court swing by Mar Kate Bendlage.

Kayla Box, a5-foot-8 junior outside hitter, might just be the Crusaders' most improved player. Her ability to get blocks — she had five on the night — and get touches on the ball helped the Crusaders prevail.

“I worked really hard in practice and I worked just on blocking and I focused in on it. My coaches told me what to do and I just listened. My coach, Tom Gendron, he is our blocking coach. He really helps me. He focuses on me. He knows what I have to do to become a better blocker," Box said. “My sister (Emily) is so much help with me. We go in the gym all the time and she does everything she can do to make me a better volleyball player.”

“She touched balls and that’s what we have to do. She touched balls on some really big points late in that Game 5. That’s what we have to do. We tell our blockers, your job is to touch the ball and slow it down. She did a great job tonight," Freesmeier said. “She’s got ups and she’s following that big sister. She’s got something to prove. She’s done an amazing, amazing job for us. I’m glad she continues to push herself to get better every day.”

Holy Trinity seized the momentum back to start the fifth set. A block by Box, a push by Kassi Randolp and a stuff on an overpass by Box sent the Crusaders into the semifinals.

David finally slay Goliath.

“Our kids kept it together in Game 5 and finally put a couple big kills together and a couple big blocks and stayed aggressive and we came out with a victory. That was just huge for us to get that done tonight," Freesmeier said. “It is what it is. Two teams in the Southeast Iowa Superconference in the semifinals of the state tournament. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

It sets up a family feud of sorts. Kassi and Natalie Randolph are cousins with Notre Dame junior outside hitter Gabby Deery.

"It’s going to be really exciting and it’s going to be a tough matchup," Natalie Randolph said. “We tell each other everything. We’re like best friends.”

“We’re very close. We call each other sisters. We’re very close," Kassi Randolph said. “It’s going to be competitive. We might not talk, but it’s going to be a great feeling to go against my cousin in the state tournament.”

HOLY TRINITY

Kills — Kassi Randolph 13, Brooke Mueller 13, Natalie Randolph 11, Mary Kate Bendlage 9, Kayla Box 5, Reagan Holvoet 1

Assists — Kassi Randolp 21, Natalie Randolph 14, Anna Sobczak 7, Bendlage 3, Mueller 2, Box 1

Serving — Mueller 1 ace, Sobczak 1 ace, Alexa Dingman 1 ace

Blocks — Box 5, Kassi Randolph 2, Mueller 2, Natalie Randolph 1

Digs — Sobczak 31, Bendlage 18, Natalie Randolph 14, Kassi Randolph 13, Teagan Snaadt 10, Mueller 6, Box 4, Teagan Denning 3, Dingman 2, Holvoet 1

JANESVILLE

Kills — Pyper McCarville 24, Kendall Thompson 14, Kamryn Umthum 9, Lauryn Podhajsky 8, Zoey Barnes 5, Elle Carlson 3, Hope Hovenga 2, Kaylee LaPlant 1

Assists — Umthum 50, McCarville 5, Thompson 4, Hope Hovenga 3, Liz Hovenga 3

Serving — Thomspin 2 aces, Hope Hovenga 2 aces, Liz Hovenga 1 ace, McCarville 1 ace, Umthum 1 ace, Hayleigh Heiser 1 ace

Blocks — Podhajsky 3, McCarville 3, Barnes 3, Umthum 2, Thompson 2

Digs — McCarville 25, Thompson 23, Hope Hovenga 22, Umthum 19, Liz Hovenga 13, Podhajsky 1, Barnes 1, Dani Hughes 1, LaPlant 1

Records — Holy Trinity 33-10, Janesville 25-1

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Crusaders rally after losing first and fourth sets to tame Wildcats