The Helias Lady Crusaders were riding a hot streak Tuesday night, maybe too hot of a streak.
A fire alarm delayed play for 10 minutes at Rackers Fieldhouse, but when action resumed, the Lady Crusaders finished off a 25-13, 25-7 win against the Battle Spartans.
Helias had reeled off 14 of the last 15 points in the first set and was leading 24-13 when the alarm began to sound.
"We were so hot that the fire alarm went off," Helias coach David Harris joked after the match.
"I thought our team did a good job of regrouping after that long break. We finished the first game and started the second game and kept the momentum going. We didn't lose focus."
Helias trailed for much of the first set, falling behind by as many as five points at 7-2. The Lady Crusaders scored the next three points, getting a kill and an ace from Hannah Borchelt, but the Spartans continued to hold on, maintaining a 12-10 lead.
"We want to start fast, and we didn't really start fast this time," Harris said. "It was kind of luke-warm."
Korie Otto started the turnaround for Helias with a kill, then Bradi Berhorst served 12 straight points to give the Lady Crusaders a 23-12 lead.
During the 13-0 run, Otto had five kills and one block, while Borchelt added three kills and Berhorst served an ace.
"Korie provided a spark there early," Harris said. "In fact, we told the setters to just keep setting her, because they weren't able to stop her."
After Helias' run ended, Otto added another kill to make it 24-13. The Lady Crusaders were in the middle of their volley for game point when the alarm sounded. Once play resumed, Helias needed only a few seconds to finish taking the first set.
Berhorst served with Helias leading 6-3 in the second set. She recorded seven straight service points to finish the match with 19 service points, extending the lead to 12-3.
"The whole team served pretty well," Harris said. "That was good to see."
Callie Henson took over the serve with the score 16-7 and never gave it up. After getting a kill, Henson served the final 10 points, which included three aces.
"She has a really nice serve," Harris said of Henson. "We're trying to give her some experience in a non-pressure situation to see how she would handle it, and she did very well."
Otto led Helias with nine kills and two blocks, while Borchelt had six kills and Henson and Meagan Engelbrecht each had five kills.
Berhorst added nine digs and Jada Oldham led the Lady Crusaders with 12 assists.
Ellie Rockers, normally an outside hitter, played as a setter in the second set, finishing with eight assists.
"You hope it never happens, but you've got to prepare for something in case Jada or Riley (Bernskoetter) get hurt," Harris said. "These are the types of games where we can work on those type of things. Hopefully they can get some experience without it being a pressure situation."
Helias (19-2) goes on the road Thursday to play at Blair Oaks (13-2), potentially with the No. 1 seed in Class 3 District 10 Tournament on the line.
The Lady Crusaders have won the past six regular-season meetings since they began playing the Lady Falcons each season starting in 2011. The two teams have also met in the district finals the past three seasons, with Helias winning each time.
"The crowd will be big, and it will be loud," Harris said. " The underlying thing is some of these girls play on the same team with each other during the club season, and now they're going to play against each other. That adds a little bit to the rivalry. We'll see if we're up to the challenge on Thursday."
Helias won the JV match against Battle 25-10, 25-3 to improve to 15-6-2. Jordan Benward had a team-high 11 kills and Claire Bonnot finished with 13 assists and seven digs. Molly Bruns served three aces.
In the freshman match, Helias swept Battle 25-14, 26-24 to improve to 15-2. Cadie Buschjost led the Lady Crusaders with six kills and seven digs, while Natalie Schlup finished with 12 assists. Abby Magee and Schlup each served four aces.