Crusade cancelled!

WAYLAND - The No. 3 (1A) Holy Trinity Crusaders may have skated through the conference tournament unscathed, but any hope of a perfect season in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference's South Division was drowned in a sea of WACO Warrior blue on Thursday night. Instead, it's the 14th-ranked Warriors who stand alone atop the division after a 5-set heartstopper (18-25, 25-22, 25-17. 23-25, 15-11).

After a tough opening set, WACO took the next two, and then bounced back from loss in the nail-biting fourth to edge HTC in the deciding set.

'Beating a team like Holy Trinity is like something I've never even imagined for us,” said senior libero Aubri Garnsey. 'I couldn't believe it. It didn't feel real.”

After dropping the opener, WACO got red-hot to start the second set, scoring the first five and building the lead to 9-2 on an ace by Garnsey. HTC snipped the lead back to one, at 15-14, but a kill by Morgan Graber boosted the Warriors back into the driver's seat, and they would hold on 25-22.

In the third set, Graber went off. The senior hitter had 10 kills in the third, looking unstoppable at times. WACO held an unthinkable 10-point lead over the perennial Super Conference powers and coasted to a 25-17 victory. Graber polished the set off by rocketing one to the HTC side of the floor.

'We just pushed hard the whole game and never gave up,” Graber said. 'If somebody messed up, we just kept pushing.”

The Warriors had control in the fourth, leading 5-1, 18-13 and 21-17 after an ace from senior hitter Molly McLaughlin. HTC rallied back to go ahead 22-21. WACO scored the next two to lead 23-22, but HTC closed it out with three-straight points to take it 25-23 and leave it all up to a deciding game.

'In Game 5's, they're not really concerned,” said head coach Jay Coble. 'They're ready to go out and play.”

WACO never trailed in the fifth. The Warriors capitalized on a couple big blocks by Ellie Miles and Ellah Kissell and timely kills by Graber and Lona Farrier, and even picked up a score on one of multiple HTC unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. A Graber kill put the Warriors on the door step with a 14-10 lead, and two points later, a Crusader serve sailed over the back line. That sent the WACO students, who are on day four of Homecoming Week, and the team on the floor, into a frenzy.

'I was so happy for everyone,” said Grace Coble, who dished out a team-high 38 assists. 'Seeing everybody be so happy was unreal.”

Graber finished the night with 22 kills. Coble had seven. Farrier finished with six, and McLaughlin had five. Garnsey led the way with 27 digs, followed closely by McLaughlin's 20. Kissell led the way with six of 18 WACO blocks.

The Warriors are now 21-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference, one game above Holy Trinity and No. 8 New London in the standings. WACO has three more South Division games left, including two big ones next week against New London on Tuesday, and Notre Dame two days later. Now, it's WACO who emerges as the favorite in a league that has seen thriller after thriller in 2020.

'If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best,” said Coach Coble. 'This is what we coach for, what we play for and what we practice for. This is why we're here.”