Foecke’s finale: Another masterpiece

CEDAR RAPIDS - The murmurs and debates lingered through the week among the volleyball experts.

Mikaela Foecke? State's best? Ever?

Maybe.

'I'm not sure if I'd put me up there,” she said after her high school career ended in championship fashion. 'But it's very nice that someone would say that about me.”

Foecke's finale as a high-schooler was another masterpiece - 30 kills, including a booming exclamation point to end it - as top-ranked Fort Madison Holy Trinity handled No. 2 Central Lyon, 25-22, 25-13, 25-8, for the Class 1A crown Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I'm just overjoyed. Ecstatic,” Foecke said after earning all-tournament captain honors in a no-brainer decision. 'We knew, that last set, that we needed to keep pushing those last 25 points.”

Holy Trinity is a perennial 1A contender. This year, the Crusaders (47-4) climbed the final step and claimed their elusive prize.

'These kids have been driving and pushing for this,” said Crusaders Coach Melissa Freesmeier. 'They knew what they had to do. They kept getting better and better, and kept pushing each other.”

A 6-foot-3 hitter bound for the University of Nebraska, Foecke concluded her career with a state-record 2,676 kills. She had 88 in three matches this week, all sweeps.

'I've seen a lot of players from a lot of places across the state,” Freesmeier said. 'In the state of Iowa, she's got to be top-three all-time. And I don't know what two I'd put ahead of her.”

Central Lyon (38-4) stayed with the Crusaders for a while, leading the opening set, 21-19, before Foecke took over. It didn't happen at the net.

Back-to-back aces highlighted a five-point scoring spree as the Crusaders took a 24-21 lead. After a sideout brought the Lions within 24-22, Foecke ended it with a back-row kill.

She had 11 kills in the first set, eight in the second, 11 in the finale. Oh, and she had a match-high 17 digs,

Holy Trinity's Madlyn Orton (11 kills) joined Foecke on the all-tournament team. So did Angel Rasmussen and Sarah Halse of Central Lyon, Shelby Schnurstein and Kendyl Sorge of Janesville and Peyton Benson of Tripoli.

Halse led the Lions with eight kills.

'Unfortunately, our five-set match (Thursday, a win over Janesville) started to show at the end of the match tonight,” said Lions Coach Jamie Schar.

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