The Helias volleyball team just needed to progress through the gears Thursday night.
Playing their home opener and just their second match of the season, the Lady Crusaders got off to a slow start at Rackers Fieldhouse, then shifted into a higher gear before finally hitting cruising speed by the end of the night.
Helias bounced back from a 28-26 loss to Fatima in the opening game to take the final two games by scores of 25-18 and 25-12.
"We are young and we had three people out there playing in their second varsity match, so we're still working on consistency," Helias coach David Harris said. "We saw it where they were inconsistent in the first game and then got better as the night went along. So that was nice to see."
The first game was close throughout, with the biggest lead being Fatima's edge at 18-13. Helias rallied and had game point at 24-23, but a net violation gave the ball back to the Lady Comets and they never trailed again.
The first game featured 15 ties.
"To have a battle like this in just our third match of the season is an uphill fight, but the girls really stepped up," Fatima coach Sherri Kincaid said.
The Lady Comets got some great passing in the game, leading to a varied attack where five different players had kills, including three apiece by Tara Buthod and Megan Werdehausen.
"Our passing corps all graduated last year, so that's where our growth is coming from," Kincaid said. "But I will say that our passing tonight was fantastic. They did a great job."
For its part, Helias had 17 different errors that contributed to the first-game loss.
"You're fighting them and yourself both if you're making a lot of errors," Harris said. "Some of them were unforced and some of them were based on what (the Lady Comets) were doing. We talked about that during the first game and obviously talked about it in between the first and second sets."
It was Helias that became more varied in the second game, as seven different hitters recorded kills. And the Lady Crusaders' blocking picked up, getting four for points, including two by Suzie Kuensting.
"That's something we're really focusing on in practice, our blocking technique," Harris said. "... We did a much better job of reading their hitters and getting in front of them and jumping together. Even if we don't get touches, then that makes it easier for the back-row defense to know where the block's at and go around it and be able to see the hitters and make some digs."
Helias trailed 3-1 in the deciding game before getting a sideout and four points on the serve of Blake Berhorst, the last one an ace.
The lead kept growing until an ace by Ashley Dudenhoeffer made it 21-8.
The Lady Crusaders matched that 13-point advantage on a kill by Erin Wyrick on match point.
"I was very pleased with how they kept their composure after that first game and came back and played better the second game and played much better in the third game," Harris said. "From a coaching standpoint, that was really nice to see."
The match was a pairing of teams that made Final Four trips last season, with Helias winning in Class 3 and Fatima finishing second in Class 2.
"We're definitely growing," Kincaid said. "We only have six returning varsity members from last year, so that's a lot of rebuilding. Most of those girls weren't even on the bench for that runner-up team.
"But it was neat to see the girls really come together. They've worked hard all summer, but this was the first time I felt like all 13 girls were a cohesive group. Whether they were sitting on the bench or playing on the court, they were a group."
Dudenhoeffer racked up 19 digs, 29 assists and 14 service points, including four aces, to pace Helias (2-0). Wyrick and Ellie Rockers tied for the team lead with six kills apiece, while Hannah Eynard had five kills and three blocks and Kuensting had four kills and four blocks.
Kaitlin Peters had 10 service points and seven digs for the Lady Comets (2-1). Buthod had five kills, Emily Keilholz had 12 assists and Courtney Kempker had two blocks.
Helias returns to action with a pair of matches Saturday at Springfield Kickapoo. The Lady Crusaders will play the host Lady Chiefs at noon before taking on Republic at 3 p.m.
Fatima plays Monday at Southern Boone.
In the JV match, Helias posted a 25-13, 25-17 victory.
Regan Bruns and Riley Bernskoetter had five kills apiece for Helias (2-0), while Amie Henson had sx assists. Bradi Berhorst had eight digs and Callie Henson had eight service points.
Kylie Eichholz had five digs and three kills for Fatima, Cierra Florest had six digs and Halie Moeller had four kills.
In the freshman match, Helias claimed a 25-10, 25-4 win.
Jada Oldham had 13 assists and three aces for the Lady Crusaders (2-0), Danielle Kroll had eight kills and Olivia Farrow had 10 digs. Krystal Brauner had 12 service points and Michael Saucier had three aces.