No. 10 New London not enough in ranked volleyball game

NEW LONDON — A short-handed Class 1A No. 10 New London volleyball team couldn’t pull off the Top-10 upset on Tuesday night as the Tigers fell to Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division rival No. 5 Holy Trinity.

Still reeling from the recent loss of middle hitter Paris Wilka, the Tigers dropped all three sets, falling 25-15, 25-17, 25-18.

“We did a lot of hitting at their libero, and they have a really great libero,” said New London head coach Lindsey Johnson. “We really needed to mix up our spots“

Indeed the ball was in the air a long time during the three-set sweep, but Holy Trinity always seemed to have an advantage.

The Crusaders jumped out to an early lead in the first set and never looked back, taking it 25-15. New London led in each of the next two.

The Tigers had as much as a 10-5 lead in the second set, capitalizing on a trifecta of aces from freshman Morgan Jones and a pair of kills from Natalie Burden. The Crusaders, however, would score the next seven to take a 13-10 lead.

New London temporarily got back within two in the second set when Sophie Malott sent down a kill to bring the Holy Trinity lead to 13-11, but the Crusaders had plenty left in the tank.

Malott served three-straight points set and connected on her first of three aces in the third set, but Holy Trinity came scrapping back once more.

“I think we're still playing pretty good defense, and we had some really long rallies with them,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, we were coming out on the wrong side.”

New London is now 14-10 overall and 3-2 in South Division play. They will host Van Buren County (3-8, 1-2) on Thursday.