File photo – The St. Bernard’s Crusaders won a key match at Hoopa on Tuesday night.

St. Bernard’s took a big step toward a conference championship with a big win at Hoopa on Tuesday night.

In a showdown between two of the three Little 5 leaders, the Crusaders came away with a four-sets win to secure a conference sweep over one of their biggest challengers and take over sole possession of top spot in the standings.

The Crusaders won 25-19, 17-25, 25-21, 25-17 and improved to 4-1 in the Little 5 with three games remaining, while the Warriors dropped to 3-2.

The Ferndale Wildcats also remain in the mix and are 3-1 in conference play after a bye on Tuesday night.

The Cats play at St. Bernard’s on Thursday night in what will be another huge showdown for both schools.

The SB girls had to fight all the way in Tuesday’s win in a match that featured several long rallies..

“It was quite a battle with Hoopa,” St. Bernard’s head coach Rachel Evans said. “They are a pretty scrappy team.”

Jocelyn Sundberg continued her impressive season in the win and finished with a team-high nine kills as well as five aces, while teammate Kinsey Lemley had eight assists and five aces and Bailee White had five aces.

The ever-consistent Ella Hart also had a good night for SB and finished with seven kills and 12 assists.

For Hoopa, Maggie Morris continued to shine and had a team-high seven kills as well as three aces, while Millennia McKindley also had a good night and aded a team-best eight aces, to go with six kills and two blocks.

Annie Lanning also had six kills in the loss, while Ivy Lamebear had a team-high 15 digs and Harmony Nelson finished with a team-best 25 assists.

A focus on defense in practice worked for the visitors.

“We’ve been working on coverage and defense and it paid off for us,” Evans added. 

St. Bernard’s libero Sahara Tupua “did an exceptional job covering the court,” according to the coach, and the junior standout finished with a team-high 13 digs.

Nina Clayton also played some excellent defense for the Crusaders and had eight digs.

The Warriors will try to bounce back and keep their championship and North Coast Section playoff hopes alive when they host South Fork on Thursday night.