By Chris Faulkner
Notre Dame struggled against No. 3 Holy Trinity in volleyball action on Thursday, and the Nikes' late surge down the stretch of the third game wasn't enough to avoid a sweep at Shottenkirk Gymnasium in Fort Madison.
Holy Trinity 25-12, 25-20, 25-23.
The Nikes trailed the third set 15-9, but over the next five servers cut the lead to 18-17. The Nikes then took the lead at 20-19 and soon led 22-20. After trading side outs, Notre Dame led 23-21, but Adalyn Kruse for the Crusaders made a kill to return the serve. Presley Myers served out the set and the match, with Kruse making another kill to end it.
It didn't help that Notre Dame missed six serves in the first two sets. But Holy Trinity missed six serves in the final set.
Notre Dame drops to 18-10 overall, 4-2 in the South and plays in the New London Tournament Saturday.
Holy Trinity remains unbeaten at 5-0 in the South and is 19-5 overall. The Crusaders host Central Lee next Thursday.
“We've got some young players, and we couldn't get in system some times,” Notre Dame coach Susan Reid said.
“We had a pretty good game plan, and when we're in system, that game plan works.”
It's never easy taking on HTC on its home court.
“It's a big environment to play in,” Reid said. “They have some good players, and they're a tough team to play.”
HTC coach Melissa Freesmeier said, “We were doing the little things we've been working on in practice.
But in the third set, Freesmeier said there were “a lot of mistakes on our end that shouldn't have happened. But we still overcame it. We still stayed in the set, and we were able to pull it off.”
Freesmeier said that Notre Dame is a “great ball club. They continue to have a good season.”
So even though it was a three-and-out match, “you know it was a better match than that,” Freesmeier said.
Notre Dame had a balanced hitting attack. Addi Brockway made nine kills, Madelyn Knapp eight and Chloe Wenzel seven. McKenna Kipp added two.
Emma Elmore made 23 assists.
Mallory Lily had 23 digs, Brockway 11, Knapp nine, Elmore five and Bella Drew and Addison Reid two each.
Wenzel made two blocks and also served an ace.
For Holy Trinity, Kruse had 14 kills and Myers 13 to lead the team. Anna Bendlage made 16 assists, and Elizabeth Griffith had 12.
Myers served four aces, and Olivia Bendlage three. Kruse led in digs with 12. Myers had three blocks.