Time after time, the ball came across the net, and time after time, the Helias Lady Crusaders picked it up and sent it back.
Utilizing some stout defense, the Lady Crusaders won all the long points and plenty of others for good measure, winning the crosstown volleyball showdown with Jefferson City by a 25-13, 25-13 score.
The tone was set from the match's very first point, as Helias won an extremely long point on its way to racing out to a 5-0 lead.
"That's one of our goals all the time, to win the long rallies," Helias coach David Harris said after Tuesday's win at Rackers Fieldhouse. "So that puts a lot of things in play. We've got to stay focused, we've got to watch what's going on on the other side of the net, we've got to play defense and we've got to attack and keep the ball in.
"If we keep consistently attacking and we're getting free balls or easy down balls back, then we can keep the pressure on all the time."
Helias eventually built the lead to 11-4, forcing Jefferson City to burn a timeout. The Lady Jays used their final timeout of the first game after the Lady Crusaders went up 18-9.
"Our defense was able to pick up a lot of their attacks, and not just did we get them, but they were pretty good passes so we were able to run some offense off it pretty quickly after that," Harris said. "Our transition from defense to offense was pretty good."
Helias took its biggest lead of the opening game at 24-11 after ripping off three straight points on the serve of Clarissa Fennessey. The Lady Crusaders eventually settled for the 12-point win.
"Give credit to Helias, they have such an intelligent attack that as soon as we made an adjustment, they made another one," Jefferson City coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said. "They kept moving us from spot to spot. They started out tipping the ball short, so we adjusted forward, then they started attacking down the line. We could just never get it fixed tonight."
A pair of aces and a kill by Hannah Borchelt got Helias off to a 3-0 start to the second game. The lead was 7-3 when Jefferson City got back-to-back kills by Mary Wehmeyer and a hitting error by Helias to get within one point.
But an 8-1 spurt by the Lady Crusders, closed out with an ace by Blake Berhorst, put the momentum back in Helias' favor.
The lead grew to 11 five different times down the stretch before Helias claimed another 12-point victory.
The Lady Crusaders, who are now 5-0 on the season, were able to get some playing time in the second game who hadn't seen the court much in Helias' first four matches.
"I've got several rotations I can use that I feel pretty comfortable with," Harris said. "... We got some people some playing time who hadn't gotten to play much yet this year, so that's always a good thing. They want to play against Jeff City, so it was nice to be able to get them in."
Hoffmeyer said her team, still struggling with injuries early this season, had trouble getting into an offensive rhythm again.
"Our kids absolutely have the will to win - it's far from a group of quitters," she said. "They have the fight, the fire in their eyes. They want to work together and work for each other, now it's just a matter of us fixing some of the little things.
"We were frustrated tonight in that we keep attacking the same spot. We get very, very predictable. Defenses have made an adjustment and we have not."
Tatum Gaines led Jefferson City (1-4) with three kills, while Janice Steacy handed out seven assists. Cameryn Campbell had 17 digs and Megan Bleidistel had 11 digs.
The Lady Jays will have some time to heal up, as they are now off until Tuesday when they travel to Rolla.
Ellie Rockers paced Helias with eight kills, while Borchelt was close behind with seven. Ashley Dudenhoeffer dished out 26 assists and had 11 service points, including two aces. Berhorst picked up 18 digs, while Erin Wyrick, Suzie Kuensting and Hannah Eynard had two blocks apiece.
Helias is now unbeaten in its last 49 matches dating back to last year's state championship run. The Lady Crusaders will go for 50 on Thursday at Duchesne before playing in the Cape Girardeau Notre Dame Volleyballfest on Friday and Saturday.
"We had to play a really tough Kickapoo team on Saturday and they are very good," Harris said. "They really pushed us. We hadn't seen an offense that quick this year, so that was really good for us and should help us down the road."
In the JV match, Helias captured a 25-10, 25-14 victory.
Callie Henson had nine kills for the Lady Crusaders, while Riley Bernskoetter had nine assists. Bradi Berhorst had seven service points, including two aces, while Laura Vanderfeltz had seven digs.
Helias is now 5-0, while Jefferson City is 3-2.
In the freshman match, the Lady Crusaders posted a 25-14, 25-10 win.
Jada Oldham had three aces and five assists for Helias, while Michael Saucier had three aces and six digs. Krystal Brauner had nine service points and six digs, Summer Kolb had four kills and five assists and Danielle Kroll had two blocks.
Helias improved to 5-0, while Jefferson City fell to 1-4.