Northland Christian wins second straight state volleyball title
The eight seniors on the Northland Christian volleyball team were not going to be denied a second straight state championship.
Experience prevailed on Saturday as Rachel Sturdevant recorded a match-high 12 kills to lead the Trailblazers to a 25-21, 25-18 win over New Haven in the Class 2 title game at the Show Me Center.
“With eight seniors, you’re a family,” Northland Christian coach Brandy Tanner said, with tears filling her eyes. “You’ve been with them since kindergarten. It’s just so hard to see them go.”
Northland Christian (35-3-4) led from wire-to-wire in the first set. Virginia Kruse placed a kill in the right corner to secure a 1-0 lead in the match for the Trailblazers.
“Our girls are gamers,” Tanner said. “In any game, they show up, and they give it everything they have every time. Even though it might be a tough game, there aren’t many people who are going to out-compete them.
“They have a lot of passion and a lot of heart.”
New Haven (27-8-5) took a 3-0 lead in the early part of the second set, but Sturdevant slammed a kill along the right line to cap a 6-3 run for the Trailblazers, tying the game at 6-all.
North Christian used a 9-0 burst to build an 18-8 lead with Rebekah Rothacher notching a kill to cap the run.
The senior Rothacher came through again later in the match, this time recording the final kill of her high school career to clinch the state crown for North Christian.
“I think our girls were just in sync with each other,” Tanner said about the second set. “They were on fire, and I knew from the start of the game that we’d have control.
“We were able to get some seniors in who don’t get to play a lot, so that was kind of nice.”
Rothacher finished with 16 assists and accounted for seven of her team’s 29 kills. Kruse added six kills, 10 assists and a team-high four digs for the Trailblazers, who had a hitting percentage of .393 in the second set.
“The girls played really smart,” Tanner said. “They see the court really well. Every touch has to count, so I think they try to make the best of every situation they’re given out there on the court.”
Kate Ruediger had seven digs to lead the Shamrocks defensively, while Emma Engelbrecht finished with a team-high nine kills. Mackenzie Bauer recorded 16 assists for New Haven.
The Trailblazers will now bid farewell to an illustrious senior class. Sturdevant, Rothacher, Virginia Kruse, Elizabeth Kruse, Alleya Fountain, Grace Fuehring, Anna Silvers and Ruoqing Xu played their final match in a Northland Christian uniform.
“They’ve been varsity players since their freshman year,” Tanner said, “and they’ve created a new culture and a new legacy at Northland Christian.
“The girls coming up underneath them have big shoes to fill.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Northland Christian wins second straight state volleyball title."