One has a team littered with seniors that have been in defining moments, including a state championship in 2021, the other is filled with underclassmen that broke through this year with their first region tournament appearance since 2017.
So when St. Henry and Beechwood met on Sunday in the 9th Region volleyball tournament quarterfinals, the upperclassmen taught the underclassmen with a Crusaders 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-13) victory at Cooper High School.
St. Henry took a business-like approach, using big runs in each set to earn the straight set victory. Putting down 40 kills helps too.
“That’s our goal, what we want each game, offensively Macy (Lentz) was able to run our offense and find our hitters. Really pleased with our service game today, had just one service error,” Crusaders coach Maureen Kaiser said.
First it was Alivia Skidmore dominating the first set with seven kills. Then it was Madi Demler with five kills, two blocks and an ace in the second set while Anna Guard closed the door in the third set with six kills and an ace.
“We really played as a team today and we all really encouraged each other today and lifted each other up,” Skidmore said.
An 8-1 run by the Crusaders in the first set got them out to a 13-4 lead after a Guard kill. Beechwood battled back with a 5-2 run to get within six at 16-10 after a Rachel Lewandowski kill, but the Crusaders responded with a 9-3 run of their own to take the first set.
Another strong start had St. Henry jump out to a 12-3 advantage in the second set, Demler’s stretch of two blocks and a kill on consecutive points helping gain the momentum.
“My teammates really lifted me up today, especially the seniors,” Demler said.
Beechwood was unable to get within eight points in the set from there.
The Tigers started out much stronger in the third set, the two tied at six after a Isabel Baaker kill. But another run did them in, St. Henry scoring 11 straight from there, Guard’s fifth kill of the run getting it to 17-6.
Kendale Lair and Isabel O’Brien recorded kills to stop the bleeding, but St. Henry answered with a 5-1 run capitalized by two Demler aces to make it 22-9. Skidmore added two more kills in the closing points before the match ended with a Beechwood error, their 14th of the contest.
Beechwood’s season comes to a close at 25-13, but the future is bright as they graduate just two seniors and have 13 players from eighth through 10th grade on the roster.
St. Henry advances to Tuesday’s semifinals to take on Ryle. They defeated the Raiders, 3-0 (25-8, 25-20, 25-19) on Oct. 3.
“We write a little something on our wrist every game that we don’t always just play for you. You put your uniform on, you’re playing for St. Henry community and you play for a higher being, whatever that might be,” Kaiser said. “We coaches do it too. So when we’re in the timeout and things aren’t going your way, you got to figure it out. That’s the way life is. It’s not always that easy. Play for something else besides yourself.”
Tuesday’s match will be back at Cooper at 6 p.m.