Saxony Lutheran volleyball team defeats Valle Catholic

~ The Crusaders defeated Valle Catholic 25-15, 25-22 at home

From the start of the season the Saxony Lutheran volleyball team has talked about maintaining consistency.

The Crusaders have struggled to do that as of late, giving up leads and dropping their last three matches.

But on Wednesday, Saxony stayed consistent while beating Valle Catholic 25-15, 25-22 at Saxony Luther High School.

"We talk about that consistency a lot, especially when it comes to emotional plays," Saxony coach Julie Brandmeyer said. "I saw us stay consistent tonight even when we were down a few points. Our kids are learning to be more even-keeled and play through those rough patches."

The Crusaders found themselves in a rough spot early in the first set.

Valle Catholic (2-2) jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Saxony (5-4-1) rallied back to take an 8-7 lead. The Warriors got within five points at 14-9 but were never able to even the score as the Crusaders went on an 11-2 run to take the first set.

"I thought we started serving a little bit more aggressive in that set once we gained the lead," Brandmeyer said. "We were also very confident on our swings. Valle Catholic has a tremendous defense, so for us to have that confidence against a great defense, that really helped us."

Brandmeyer said getting the ball to hitter Raegan Wieser on the right side during the first set was key to the Crusaders taking a 1-0 lead.

"We've kind of struggled to get it to her on that right side so far this season," Brandmeyer said. "As a coach I want the setters to distribute the ball evenly, but she is definitely our best attacker, so I thought if we could get it to her we would have success."

The junior had three kills and a block in the first set.

"Our setters really put in a lot of work to get the ball to the right spots all night," Wieser said. "In that first set it just ended up being me some of the time, and I wasn't going to waste a chance at a point."

Saxony Lutheran's Logan Franke reaches to tip the ball at the net against Valle Catholic during the match Wednesday, Sept 10, 2014 at Saxony Lutheran High School. (GLENN LANDBERG)

Saxony took a 9-4 lead to begin the second set before Valle took its first timeout. The Warriors eventually rallied to tie the set at 19. Valle senior Hannah Bahr served a perfect ace down the left sideline to give the Warriors a 20-19 lead, their first of the set, and forced Saxony to take its final timeout.

"We had two really great rallies right before that timeout, so I was giving them a lot of compliments during that timeout and telling them to stick with the gameplan we had laid out," Brandmeyer said. "We knew our energy level had to stay up, and that it was going to take a lot of communication to win this match."

Senior Saxony captain Abigail Bergman said her coach's advice was simple yet effective.

"We're always taught to be loud and be communicating with each other, so I really have taken on that role of being that vocal leader when we're in tight situations," Bergman said. "I think we kind of struggle to talk a lot of the time, but when we do it works out for us and we start to communicate and find that things will fall our way."

The Crusaders took their coach's advice and went on a 6-2 run to win the match.

Valle coach Nancy Fischer said she would have liked to see her team be more aggressive down the stretch of the final set.

"We were just a little out of sync towards the end I thought," Fischer said. "They were hitting good balls, but they did get in a funk there at the end and we just couldn't find a way to get on a run and take advantage of it."

Wieser powered the Crusaders' offense and finished with seven kills. Junior attacker Jordan Hecht added five kills and two aces while setter Brianna Mueller had 13 assists.

Bahr led Valle with eight kills and seven digs. Warriors libero Megan Abt had 13 digs and setter Cassandra Moulton had 10 assists.

"I'm starting to see us be more vocal and really play through the tough situations, which I like, but it needs to stay consistent," Brandmeyer said. "I think we have a lot of potential to battle with good teams and be contenders in this area. We took a step in the right direction tonight, we just have to keep playing consistently."

The Crusaders return to action at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in the Dig for Life Classic.