WACO downed in dog fight

FORT MADISON - The ninth-ranked Holy Trinity Crusaders were given everything they could handle in Monday night’s Class 1A Region 8 volleyball final. WACO came into the Crusaders’ house and put the favorites to the test, but in the end, Holy Trinity escaped in four sets.

After a blowout loss in the first, the Warriors gave the Crusaders an absolute battle in the last three sets, but in the end it was Holy Trinity that celebrated a 25-6, 23-25, 28,26, 25-17 win.

To make things more emotional for the WACO program, the loss marked the end of the tenure of head coach Jay Coble, who’s Warriors won 20 games or more four-straight times to end his run at the helm.

“This is really tough, especially since it's my last match,” said Coble. “It's really tough in that department, and tough for our five seniors, who played really hard and meant a lot to the program.”

WACO couldn’t get anything going in a first set that went from 14-6 to 25-6 in the blink of an eye, but a few adjustments to the rotation had the Warriors on the offensive in the second set.

After rallying from a 7-3 deficit, the Warriors used an ace by Libero Jocelyn Fulton to go up 10-9. Then, tied 11-11, Ellah Kissell scored on back-to-back kills, and a Holy Trinity error gave the Warriors a 14-11 lead.

WACO held a steady lead from that point forward, but nearly blew a 24-18 advantage. Holy Trinity scored the next five points, and then the game-winning kill by Kissell, which caromed out off a Holy Trinity blocker was originally called a no-touch and a Crusader point. A lengthy and emotional discussion from players, coaches, fans and officials eventually gave the point to the Warriors, who celebrated a 25-23 second-set victory.

“When you have an older team, you don't really get worried about Set ones,” said Coble about the team’s ability to rebound. “It was just kind of a warm up for us, to try and match their intensity and what they're trying to do.”

That made the third set a swing set, and was quite the swing of emotions from point to point. The two teams split the first 14 points before WACO built a 10-7 lead. Holy Trinity then went on a huge rush and led the set 19-14 at one point before the Warriors stormed back at the end.

WACO erased the five-point deficit, using kills from Kissell, Marie Farmer and Emma Wagler to do so. The Warriors eventually earned game-point, up 25-24 with a chance to put momentum squarely on WACO’s side of the court, but Holy Trinity clawed back and took the second set 28-26.

“You feel like in Game 3, you had a chance to finish it out,” Coble said. “We don't get a ball that we probably should have gotten, and we gave them a little bit of momentum.”

The Warriors held a pair of one-point leads early in the fourth set thanks in part to a couple of big blocks by Wagler early, but Holy Trinity controlled the middle portion and eventually scored the final daggers in WACO’s season.

Kissell ended the night with 13 kills. Wagler hadd 11 and Farmer finished with seven. Grace Coble dished out 30 assists and chipped in a pair of blocks as well.

Wagler was huge on the block, collecting four on the night. Kissell led the way in digs, with 30, and Jocelyn Fulton finished with 26 digs.

The Tigers served at a 93.4 percent effeciency in the loss. Meredith Roth was a perfect 16-for-16 with an ace. Fulton and Katie Leichty each had an ace as well, and Farmer was 13-for-13.