It was everything the Helias Lady Crusaders would want from a volleyball season opener - they played well and they won.
"We had a few little nerves, but I was pleased with the way we played," Helias coach David Harris said after Tuesday night's 25-11, 25-13 victory against the Waynesville Lady Tigers at Rackers Fieldhouse.
The Lady Crusaders swapped points early in the first set with the Lady Tigers. Leading 6-4, Helias won six of the next seven points on its way to the 12-point victory.
That momentum carried into the second set, where Helias jumped out to an 11-2 advantage.
"You always want to start fast and I think we did that in the second set," Harris said.
The Lady Crusaders stretched their lead to 19-6 before Waynesville was able to play Helias about even the rest of the way.
Even with the easy victory, Harris said Helias still has some things to work on.
"Hopefully we're not as good right now as we will be in a couple of months," he said.
One area that needs shoring up is serving. The Lady Crusaders negated a handful of scoring opportunities by hitting serves into the net.
"If we want to miss, we want to miss long," Harris said.
And then there was the serve that bounced off a Helias player's head. The ball did go over the net, but it's still a violation.
"I think the referees are going to see that most of the time," Harris said.
Lexi Lamb paced Helias with 15 assists in the victory, while Abby Shepard had eight. Bradi Berhorst totaled 14 digs, while Ellie Rockers totaled seven. Hannah Borchelt finished with nine kills, with Rockers adding seven. Erin Wyrick finished with two blocks.
Shepard led with 10 service points, while Lamb had eight.
The Lady Crusaders will be busy at the start of the season. Helias will travel Thursday to Fatima before playing Saturday in the Bentonville (Ark.) Tournament. Then Helias will head to Fleming Fieldhouse next Tuesday to take on Jefferson City.
"In a week, we're going to have about 10 matches," Harris said.
In the JV match, Helias won 25-13, 25-11 against Waynesville.
Krystal Brauner had nine digs and two aces for the winners, while Reagan Bernskoetter totaled four kills and Jada Oldham had four assists. Riley Bernskoetter totaled four digs and three kills, while Summer Kolb also had three kills.
In the freshman match, Helias opened the season with a 25-1, 25-4 decision against Waynesville.
Claire Bonnot had 23 service points, including nine aces, while Olivia Garrett had eight aces among her 16 points for the Lady Crusaders. Bonnot led with seven assists, while Grace Hollaway and Garrett had three kills each. Gracie Bernskoetter and Garrett had three digs each.