WACO scares Holy Trinity

FORT MADISON -- After winning a first-round playoff game over Notre Dame's Nikes, WACO High School coach Jay Coble had said that his Warriors were not scared of the third-ranked Holy Trinity Crusaders.

WACO proved their coach correct Monday in a Class 1A Region 8 quarterfinal.

The Warriors were swept by the Crusaders (33-3), who will play Seymour in Thursday's regional semifinal at Bloomfield, but not before throwing out a scare of their own.

WACO lost the first set 25-11, then came together for a great second set, losing 27-25, but dropped the last set 25-7.

'We played well in spurts, had our chances in Game 2, but let it slip away,” WACO coach Jay Coble said.

Holy Trinity led 11-3 lead in the first set before WACO got within 16-9. Holy Trinity scored nine of the last 11 points.

WACO had set point on the Crusaders at 24-22 in the second game. Holy Trinity scored the next three points before WACO's Clara Schmitz spiked one of her four kills to tie it at 25, but HTC scored the next two points to escape.

The Crusaders scored nine of the first 10 points on the way to the third-set win.

Morgan Graber had five kills and two blocks for WACO. Nadiyah Brown and Kristen Conley each had three kills and a block. Laney Graber put up 17 assists. Quinn Scarff's play resulted in 13 digs. Lona Farrier had three blocks and four kills. Molly McLaughlin played a pair of aces.

WACO ends the season with a 16-13 record.