The Rolla Lady Bulldogs served first in Tuesday night's volleyball match against the Helias Lady Crusaders.
By the time they served again they were behind by double digits as Helias scored the opening 11 points at Rackers Fieldhouse on its way to a 25-8, 25-11 victory against Rolla.
"I was very pleased, we kept executing very well on offense and defense," Helias coach David Harris said. "Everything was working and we kept our focus.
"We really sustained that through the whole match."
Jada Oldham served 10 straight points to start the offensive night for Helias. The Lady Crusaders added a five-point spurt later in the set and the 17-point final margin was their largest.
"Our ball control was probably a little better than theirs and that made a difference," Harris said.
After scoring the first point in the second set, things didn't get much better for Rolla as Helias jumped out to an 11-2 lead.
"We had some lineup changes and got some other people some playing time, but with everyone that came in, we were able to remain pretty seamless in what we were trying to do," Harris said.
Helias and Rolla swapped points for a while before the Lady Crusaders scored the final six of the match to take the victory.
"I was very pleased with the effort by everyone," Harris said. "We were able to work on a lot of stuff tonight, which was good."
Hannah Borchelt paced Helias with six kills. Erin Wyrick added five, while Callie Henson added four. Bradi Berhorst finished with eight digs, while Oldham had 19 assists.
Rolla is now 4-8.
The competition will amp up a notch - or five - Saturday for the Lady Crusaders (14-0) when they travels to St. Louis to play in the St. Joseph's Academy Tournament of Champions.
"It's probably the toughest tournament we've ever played in," Harris said. "I think there are a combined more than 30 state titles between the eight teams. We have the fewest with one.
"We tried to toughen up our tournament schedule this year and this one really does it."
Helias is in a pool with the host school, defending Class 2 champion St. Pius X in Festus and Briarcrest Christian of Eads, Tenn. The other pool is six-time defending Class 4 state champion Lafayette, St. James Academy of Lenexa, Kan., Borgia and Cor Jesu.
"There is no easy match, there are no breathers," Harris said. "We are going to have to go up there and have our best game to survive, really. This should help get us ready for the postseason."
In Tuesday's JV match, Helias was a 25-13, 17-25, 25-14 winner. Claire Bonnot finished with 24 assists for the Lady Crusaders (11-4-1), while Gracie Bernskoetter totaled 15 digs. Cate Albertson totaled eight kills, with Lexi Boeckman adding seven and Jordan Benward getting six. Molly Bruns had four blocks, with Benward leading the team with 16 service points,
In the freshman match, Helias won 25-4, 25-10. Abby Magee totaled nine assists and eight points. Natalie Schlup finished with nine points and three assists. Ella Randolph had eight points, including five aces Cadie Buschjost led with four kills, with Grace Wilding totaling two blocks. Ashley Fennewald led the Lady Crusaders (12-2) with three digs.