Here we go again

FT. MADISON - It's a tale as old as time. No. 7 New London and No. 8 Holy Trinity in the regional finals. Two of the best volleyball teams in Southeast Iowa sharing the gym with two rowdy fanbases, the local media, and a state qualifying banner.

In an area that has been top-heavy in small school volleyball, the two teams have seen countless battles over the years. Most of those battles in gyms over-flowing with fans, and a number have been for the highest of stakes.

The regular season matchup between the Tigers and Crusaders usually winds up being for the SEISC South Division title. The two teams often meet up in the conference tournament, and find themselves playing each other for state on an almost yearly basis.

In 2014, the Tigers and Crusaders found themselves in the same state bracket. New London was able to avoid the eventual state champions by getting placed in a different regional bracket. The Tigers would roll to state, dropping just one set in the entire regional tournament, but losing in the first round.

In 2015, New London came into the regional final having won 18-straight games after getting knocked out 25-17, 25-19 by the Crusaders in the conference tournament. The Tigers and Crusaders played a five-set thriller at Ft. Madison High School, the very place they'll play tonight (Tuesday), with HTC winning 22-25, 23-25, 25-17, 27-25, 16-14.

In 2016 and 2017, HTC and New London met up in the regional semifinals. In 2016, the Crusaders swept the Tigers 25-21, 25-15, 25-15, en route to yet another state tournament appearance.

New London got its biggest recent victory over HTC in the 2017 SEISC tournament. The Tigers scored a comeback win over the Crusaders 21-25, 25-22, 16-14 in the conference championship game. HTC would get the last laugh, though, beating New London twice on the Tigers' home court, taking the regular season showdown 28-26, 18-25, 27-25, 25-14 and knocking New London out 16-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 in the regional semifinals.

Although they were in separate regional finals, both teams were in Ottumwa last season for their regional final berth. The Crusaders won their regional final, but New London fell in theirs, narrowly missing out on the state tournament again.

And now, they meet again. In a year where Southeast Iowa saw the most volleyball pairty in recent memory, New London and Holy Trinity still came out of the dust. The Tigers and Crusaders will meet in the regional tournament for the fifth time in the last six years.

'(HTC coach Melissa Freesmeier) will definitely have her group ready to go, and they're going to serve very tough,” said New London head coach Maureen Heath. 'We've got to dig up their offense and try and stay with them, get them out of system when we can. And we've got to keep swinging ourselves.”

New London has beaten their nemisis once already this season, taking them down 25-18, 25-20, 17-25, 25-22. HTC defeated New London 21-18, 18-21, 15-13 in SEISC pool play, but the two didn't face off in the finals.

If the Tigers can pull out a win tonight, they will break HTC's streak of nine-straight state tournament appearances. The last time the Crusaders weren't in the state tournament was 2009, when New London swept them out of the regional tournament. That was the only year HTC has ever missed the state volleyball tournament since becoming a school in 2005.