Prep Volleyball: #4 Holy Trinity Catholic Prevails over #10 West Burlington in an SEISC Championship Rematch

West Burlington, IA- The Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) tournament started with 17 teams for pool play on Thursday before that was whittled down to eight for championship Saturday. The result? A three-set classic for the gold between Class 1A’s #4 Holy Trinity Catholic and Class 2A’s #10 West Burlington in a rematch of last year’s championship match.

Here’s how we got there.

The Crusaders started off the night with a decisive sweep of Central Lee 25-12 and 25-14. Kenna Sandoval led the Hawks with 12 assists, two kills, and one block, while Halle Lampe tabbed four kills in the loss.

At the same time, the Falcons dispatched Hillcrest Academy without much of a sweat, winning 25-7 in both sets. Cross-town rivals would meet in the semifinals after Burlington Notre Dame defeated Mediapolis in straight sets.

In the final quarterfinal matchup, Wapello punched their ticket to the next semifinals with a sweep of the Arrows 25-16 and 25-11. Annaka Greiner grabbed 17 assists as Mila Jordan led the winning effort with 10 kills.

Wapello was awarded a chance to upset the Crusaders, who were looking to advance to championship match for the 15th straight season. However, upsets are hard to come by as Holy Trinity Catholic deflected the Arrows away to the third-place match 25-20 and 25-16.

Notre Dame was the last roadblock for a rematch of last year’s championship match. The Falcons flew right over, sweeping the Nikes 25-12 and 25-21.

The finals were set with Notre Dame looking to avenge a three-set loss to Wapello in pool play and the Falcons attempting to go back-to-back in a heavily competitive conference that does not offer up many opportunities to do so.

The Nikes succeeded in grabbing 3rd place with a 25-18 and 25-14 win in straight sets over Wapello. Greiner finished the tournament with 36 assists, while Jordan’s play culminated in 26 kills.

At this point in the tournament, the winning teams had yet to drop a set. That changed in the championship match, but it did not start that way.

In a battle of the big dogs of the SEISC, the Crusaders breezed to a 25-14 victory in the first set and appeared ready to sweep the Falcons. Nevertheless, West Burlington battled back to win a gritty second set 25-22.

The intensity was turned up a notch in the championship deciding match with the two teams trading points until the Falcons had a 14 to 13 match point opportunity to make it back-to-back years of taking home the banner.

Olivia Bendlage, a freshman for the Crusaders, denied that opportunity with one of her 13 tournament kills, tying the game at 14. The two again traded points, but the front row play of Holy Trinity Catholic was suffocating with two late blocks by Presley Myers and an Adalyn Kruse kill ending the match, 17-15 for the Crusaders.

Kruse led the Crusaders with 31 kills, followed by Myers with 24 kills and nine blocks. Anna Bendlage tabbed 42 assists and nine kills. This was Holy Trinity Catholic’s 9th SEISC championship.