Volleyball teams usually have some specific goals heading into a match. "Win as fast as possible" usually isn't on the list.
Yet that was one of the keys for the Helias Lady Crusaders on Thursday night. They made the most of an early start time and zipped through a 25-8, 25-10 win against the Father Tolton Trailblazers at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"We obviously want to win on Senior Night; we want to get seniors a lot of playing time; we want to get everybody playing time, which we kind of did; and then have nobody get hurt," Helias coach David Harris said. "All those goals got accomplished. And we got done in time for people to go to the football game, and that was another goal."
The match, which lasted less than 40 minutes, probably only lasted that long due to some interesting lineups dictated by Senior Night, which honored Tory Wiley, Erica Haslag, Molly Sandbothe, Lindsey Griggs, Laura Schieber and Abby Farrow.
"We were pretty solid," Harris said. "We had some people playing back row that don't normally play back row, a few things like that. The people that don't normally serve did a great job serving, so I was pleased overall."
Haslag, who quadrupled Tolton's kill output by getting 12 of her own to a total of four for all the Trailblazers, said the Lady Crusaders just went with the flow.
"I just feel like our chemistry is amazing, so no matter where anyone plays, we just work well as a team," she said. "That's what makes us so better this year than last year or previous years - everyone works well together."
Helias lost the opening point of the match but stormed back for a 6-2 lead, the last two points coming on back-to-back aces by Schieber.
The Lady Crusaders later got a sideout for a 9-4 lead, then ripped off six straight points on the serve of Griggs, two of them aces.
That made it 15-4 and the lead stayed in double digits the rest of the way.
The second game was close for a bit, as Tolton was within 4-3 before Helias got a kill from Griggs.
That's when Haslag took over. She had eight kills during the next 17 points, and Helias won 13 of those points to lead 19-7.
"There was a spree where I just had a few in a row," she said with a smile.
That effectively ended the match, as Helias went on for a win that improved its record to a flawless 29-0.
In addition to Haslag's 12 kills, Wiley added six and Schieber recorded four.
Ashley Dudenhoeffer handed out 24 assists, while Sandbothe and Farrow had four digs each. Schieber chipped in with four aces.
"We play so well as a team," Haslag said. "The seniors this year are great, and I love all of them. We've come together really well."
The Lady Crusaders return to action Saturday in the Ozark Grand Slam Tournament.
"We've got some big games coming up Saturday," Harris said. "It will be good for us to face some good, quality teams down there. It will help us get ready for districts and hopefully beyond districts."
In Thursday's JV match, Helias cruised to a 25-3, 25-7 win.
Lexy Lamb had 15 service points, including five aces, while Abby Shepard had 10 points with six aces.
Also for Helias (29-0-1), Erin Wyrick and Madeline McDaniel had three kills apiece and Lamb had eight assists.