‘Lights-out’ Holy Trinity sweeps Edgewood-Colesburg in a 1A regional volleyball final

WEST LIBERTY — Tears were shed and emotions were raw coming out of the locker room.

In the end, members of the Edgewood-Colesburg volleyball team can hold their heads high.

The 12th-ranked Vikings (29-16) fell to Class 1A No. 3 Fort Madison Holy Trinity (33-10) in three sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-6) in a regional final match Wednesday night at West Liberty High School.

Ed-Co had climbed to a height the program hadn’t reached since 2005 — a regional final match.

“It’s only my second year, but I guess we haven’t been to the regional finals since I graduated college, which was a long time ago,” Ed-Co Coach Dana Kopren said. “So it’s been a long time and they’ve worked really hard to get here.

“It sucks that that’s how it ended, but I’m super proud of them. They believed the whole time. They’ve worked really hard.”

It was an off night for an Ed-Co team that entered the contest having won its previous 13 matches.

Blend that with a “lights-out” performance from a team that’s made the state tournament now 16 times since 2005 on the other side of the court and it was a recipe for heartbreak.

“Edgewood-Colesburg’s a good team,” Holy Trinity Coach Melissa Freesmeier said. “We just happened to be on fire, lights out tonight.”

Holy Trinity took the first set 25-17 as 6-foot sophomore Presley Meyers and senior Natalie Randolph recorded four kills apiece. As the setter, most of Randolph’s kills came on sneak attacks where she saw a hole in the defense.

“Me and my other setter Anna (Bendlage), we definitely look to see where we have open on the court and we talk to each other,” Randolph said. “That definitely helps us. And our height in the middle is just great.”

Ed-Co’s Lilee Boriskey had an impressive opening set with seven assists, four of which went to senior Audrie Helmrichs.

“We were really hyped up,” Helmrichs said. “We really wanted to win and believed that we could. There’s a lot of sadness, but a lot of pride in what we accomplished and how far we’ve come.”

“We missed way more serves than we normally do,” Kopren said. “But I thought we kept our spirits up and things kind of just didn’t go our way.”

The second set also belonged to Holy Trinity. A couple of big runs with Randolph serving sparked the Crusaders.

“We just kept firing on all cylinders,” Freesmeier said. “I couldn’t be happier with this team. I know they have what it takes.”

The final set went sideways for the Vikings as Holy Trinity jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back.

“They’re a great team,” Kopren said. “I wish we would’ve showed up a little bit more, but they’re a great team and they’ve been here before. They’re more experienced than us. So we’re kind of looking to move that direction as a program.

“Those three seniors (Campbell Kirby, Marin Gaul and Helmrichs) put a lot into this program. I’m super proud of them.”

“I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Helmrichs said. “We came together as a team. We love each other. We tried our best and gave it our all. And that’s all we could do.”

Holy Trinity 3, Edgewood-Colesburg 0

(25-17, 25-15, 25-6)

CLASS 1A REGION 8 FINAL, AT WEST LIBERTY HIGH SCHOOL

Serving: Edgewood-Colesburg 34-40 (.850), Holy Trinity 65-69 (.942)

Aces: Edgewood Colesburg 3, Holy Trinity 6

Kills: Edgewood Colesburg 23 (Audrie Helmrichs 9, Marin Gaul 7, Lilee Boriskey 1, Savannah Drips 2, Samantha Wessel 4). Holy Trinity 33 (Presley Myers 9, Mary Kate Bendlage 7, Natalie Randolph 7, Adalyn Kruse 1, Anna Bendlage 4, Taegan Denning 5).

Assists: Edgewood Colesburg 21 (Lilee Boriskey 18, Campbell Kirby 1, Abby Bockenstedt 1, Audrie Helmrichs 1). Holy Trinity 20 (Natalie Randolph 11, Anna Bendlage 4, Teagan Snaadt 3, Taegan Denning 2).