It was about as good a start as the Helias Lady Crusaders could have wanted. And they got the finish they wanted.
The middle, that was the interesting part.
"When their backs are against the wall, this team doesn't quit," Helias coach David Harris said Thursday night after the Lady Crusaders topped the Nixa Lady Eagles 25-22, 27-25 at Rackers Fieldhouse. "We keep on fighting to the last point, which we had to do tonight."
After squaring off multiple times in the summer, Helias and Nixa were familiar foes.
"Every time we played it was close, so we knew it would be a close match," Harris said.
So when Helias scored nine of the first 10 points on its way to an 18-7 lead, Harris was a little puzzled. In a good way.
"That was kind of surprising," he said.
The Lady Crusaders used a strong service receive game to get to that big advantage.
"When that happens, you can set any hitter and that makes it tough to figure out where the attack is going to come from," Harris said. "But then we got predictable."
And predictably, Nixa rallied.
"I thought we'd finish out that first set, but we had problems finishing," Harris said. "When you get that double-digit lead, sometimes it's human nature to let down a little bit."
A mix of serves and hitting errors by the Lady Crusaders aided the comeback by the Lady Eagles.
"We had some people trying to hit the ball 200 miles per hour when all we needed was a smooth and consistent swing," Harris said.
Nixa whittled into the Helias lead, getting as close as two points at 24-22 before the Lady Crusaders were able to close out the first set.
That momentum carried over into the second set. Nixa scored four of the first five points before Helias battled back. After the set was tied at 11, Helias led by as many as three points before Nixa came back to tie it at 20.
Nixa took its final lead at 21-20 before Helias rattled off four straight points and needed just one more to close out the match. But Nixa wouldn't give up, scoring four straight of its own to take a 25-24 advantage.
Helias then got the next three points to get the win.
"We're young, we're still learning what it takes to win," Harris said.
Regan Bruns paced Helias with 11 kills, while Erin Wyrick totaled five kills and a team-high two blocks. Bradi Berhorst had 19 digs, while Ellie Rockers totaled 10. Lexi Lamb finished with 15 assists, with Abby Shephard adding 14.
Helias (10-1) is off until Tuesday when it heads to Rolla. Nixa is now 3-2.
Helias (5-1-0) won the JV match 25-15, 25-19. Grace Millard finished with 12 kills and three blocks to lead the Lady Crusaders. Riley Bernskoetter had 10 assists, while Jada Oldham had eight assists and 15 service points. Riley Bernskoetter had 12 digs, with Krystal Brauner totaling 11.
In the freshman match, Helias (5-1-0) posted a 25-16, 15-25, 25-22 victory. Tessa Wilson totaled six kills and four blocks, while Olivia Garrett had four kills. Claire Bonnot finished with 11 assists and 10 digs, with Gracie Bernskoetter totaled a team-high 14 digs. Esther Tharp had 12 service points, with Bonnot adding 11.