The Helias Lady Crusaders nearly knocked off one of the top volleyball teams in the state Saturday, falling to the Nixa Lady Eagles 25-19, 17-25, 24-26, 27-25, 12-15 at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Nixa is ranked No. 2 in Class 5 by MaxPreps, while Helias is No. 8.
Landrey VanOverschelde led the Lady Crusaders with a double-double of 30 assists and 17 digs.
Chapel Dobbs had a team-high 20 kills, while Jacie Buschjost finished with 14 kills and Cate Albertson added nine kills. Sydney Mingucci posted a team-high six blocks.
Grace Verslues added 18 assists to go with 12 service points and Lacey Heidbrink tallied a team-high 22 digs.
Helias finishes the regular season with a 25-5-2 record. The Lady Crusaders, the No. 1 seed in the Class 5 District 9 Tournament, will play fourth-seeded Capital City at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Capital City High School.
In the JV match, Helias lost 19-25, 16-25 to finish the season with a 22-8-3 record.
Faith Ann Meyer and Stella Struttmann each had four kills for Helias, while Riley Jaegers had seven assists to go with seven digs. Hannah Luetkemeyer and Ava Millard each had a team-high nine digs and Makayla Luebbert had eight service points.
In the freshman match, Helias won 25-13, 25-16 to end the season with a 24-4-3 record.
Brooke Yanskey and Adalyn Koelling each had four kills, while Yanskey added seven blocks for the Lady Crusaders. Addisyn Bryant had seven assists, Addison Slicker had 12 service points and seven digs, Isabella Herrbold finished with 11 digs and Maryn Randolph posted six service points.