Helias volleyball team defeats Quincy for 30th win

The Helias Lady Crusaders closed the volleyball regular season Saturday afternoon by making a little program history.

Helias' 25-23, 25-18 win against Quincy, Ill., at Rackers Fieldhouse was the 30th of the season for the Lady Crusaders. It's the third straight 30-win season for Helias, the first time the Lady Crusaders have achieved that milestone.

"That's an accomplishment," Helias coach David Harris said. "It's a lot of wins. To be honest, I wasn't sure we could do it in the regular season with the schedule. This has really been one of the toughest schedules we've ever played, especially in tournaments.

"We've had girls step in and keep it going. Tradition doesn't graduate. The girls know what is expected of them and they go out and do it. They put in the work, they were dedicated and made sacrifices."

The Lady Crusaders (30-3-3) picked up the win Saturday in no small part with their play around the net.

"We blocked really well," Harris said. "The last three matches, we've blocked really well because we've started doing the little things we're supposed to do.

"We did a good job of finding the hitter and closing in at the net."

Helias got off to a bit of slow start, trailing 7-2 in the early going.

"Most of those points were on our errors," Harris said. "If we cleaned a few things up, we would be OK. I wasn't all that concerned."

Things were cleaned up and Helias came back to take a 21-19 advantage.

But then

"The last couple of matches, we get momentum and then we have a few errors in a row," Harris said.

Quincy came back to take the lead with four straight points to take a 23-21 advantage. But Helias scored the next four points to capture the first set.

"These girls don't like to lose," Harris said. "Sometimes, it's almost like they need a challenge."

Helias jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second game. The Lady Crusaders led by as many as eight points in the game, that coming at 12-4, before posting the 25-18 victory.

Abby Shepard finished with 17 assists, 16 service points and five digs for Helias, while teammate Lexy Lamb had 11 assists and six digs. Lamb also had a pair of service aces.

Bradi Berhorst also had six digs, while Regan Bruns totaled five kills. Ellie Rockers finished with seven kills to go along with five kills and five digs. Erin Wyrick totaled six kills and four blocks.

Helias had a total of 30 kills in the match.

"I'll take that all the time," Harris said.

Helias is the No. 1 seed in the Class 3 District 10 Tournament that begins Monday at Buffalo. The Lady Crusaders have a first-round bye in the six-team event.

Harris knows success in the regular season doesn't mean much when it comes to the postseason.

"In 2004, we won 30 games for the first time in school history and we got beat in the district semifinals," he said. "We have to maintain our focus and not get complacent."

Helias will open play at 5 p.m. Tuesday with a semifinal match against the winner of Bolivar and Buffalo. The championship match is set for 8 p.m. Tuesday.

In Saturday's JV match, Helias defeated Quincy 25-18, 26-24. Riley Bernskoetter had 13 assists, while Jada Oldham totaled 10. Danielle Kroll finished with seven kills, while Michael Saucier had four blocks. Krystal Brauner led Helias (28-5) with 13 digs.

In the freshman match, Helias was a 25-7, 25-13 winner. Emily Houser and Olivia Garrett had 11 points each, while Clair Bonnot totaled 11 assists. Grace Holllaway and Tessa Wilson each had five kills, while Gracie Bernskoetter had six digs for the Lady Crusaders (27-5-1).