Holding an opponent to 11 points in a volleyball game is impressive.
Holding a team to 11 points in a match is downright astounding.
The Helias Lady Crusaders beat the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons in dominating fashion Thursday night at Rackers Fieldhouse, steamrolling to a 25-7, 25-4 victory.
Helias had it in all facets. The offense had 17 kills, the defense picked up five blocks for points, and the servers racked up seven aces.
"We did a lot of things well tonight," Helias coach David Harris said.
Blair Oaks, meanwhile, had just four kills and one block for a point. The Lady Falcons' other six points came on Helias errors.
"They're a quality team and they played well," Blair Oaks coach Joy Northweather said.
As good as the first game went for Helias - the Lady Crusaders started it with a 5-0 run and later had an 8-0 spurt - the second game was even more impressive.
Blair Oaks got two kills from Rebecca Schroeder while tying the game at 3.
Helias got a kill from Lindsey Griggs, and it was basically over after that.
That's because Laura Schieber headed back to the service line, where she unleashed jump serve after jump serve while helping Helias rip off 19 straight points to lead 23-3. She had four aces in the run and had the Lady Falcons on their heels time after time.
"(Harris) told us to have fun tonight, so that was my main idea," Schieber said. "I wasn't stressed, and whenever I'm not stressed, I play better."
This was a case of practice makes perfect.
"I think half of our practice consists of just serving," Schieber said. "Coach always says passing and serving are the most important things in volleyball. Having a good serve is really, really important."
Harris, who was surprised when informed the run covered 19 serves, said Schieber is a good weapon to have.
"That's why she's one of our first servers," he said. "Ashley (Dudenhoeffer) is first and Laura is second, because I want our two best servers to serve more times, so if we rotate in a game, they'll serve more than anybody else will.
"Laura can put it wherever she wants to put it, wherever we ask her to. Not too many people can hit that spot 19 times in a row, and she was doing a very good job of it. ... We found something that was working and we just kept after it."
The Lady Falcons eventually got a kill by Allison Maxwell to end the run, but a service error by Blair Oaks gave the ball back to Helias. The Lady Crusaders then ended it on an ace by Erica Haslag.
Haslag led Helias with seven kills, while Molly Sandbothe and Tory Wiley added four each as Dudenhoeffer dished out 17 assists.
"They gave us some free balls and our free-ball passing was very good - we were able to run whatever we wanted," Harris said.
Maddie Dunkmann picked up six digs to pace Helias, while Haslag came up with three blocks.
"I think our defense played extremely well," Harris said. "We dug several of their hits, we were there for tips, we were there for dumps, so they didn't get any little easy points on us. We picked all that stuff up really well."
The win moved Helias to 27-0, extending the school record for consecutive wins in a season.
"It's impressive, especially when some of those wins have been against some of the best teams in St. Louis, teams that are ranked in the Top 10 in St. Louis polls, and Top 10 in the state," Harris said. "And then to beat (Carl Junction), which finished second last year (in Class 3), it's not like we're playing an easy schedule.
"We've played some pretty tough teams and to make it through there, losing only one set all year, it's a big accomplishment."
Schieber said it's been fun to be a part of the streak.
"It's unbelievable," she said. "It's a dream come true. It's just blissful. Our team is so dynamic, the chemistry is there and everyone is getting along so well."
Helias returns to action Monday at Hermann, while Blair Oaks (9-4-2) plays Saturday in the Eldon Tournament.
In Thursday's JV match, Helias captured a 25-15, 25-12 win to move to 27-0-1 on the season.
Lexi Lamb had eight service points, including three aces, and seven assists for the Lady Crusaders. Laura Vanderfeltz had 10 digs and Hannah Borchelt had five kills. Maddie Neuner, Madeline McDaniel and Regan Bruns had two blocks apiece.
Kellie Fredendall had six kills for Blair Oaks (15-1) and Jayde Peters had nine assists.
In the freshman match, Helias set a record for most consecutive wins by a freshman squad at the school by moving to 23-0 with a 25-17, 25-14 win.
Amie Henson had 16 service points, including six aces, and nine assists for the Lady Crusaders. Elisabeth Mealy had 20 digs and Morgan Miles had four kills.
Ali Juergensmeyer had two aces and two assists for Blair Oaks (7-3-2) and Jadyn Anderson had two kills.