St. Bernard's

Crusaders celebrate their seniors with a Little 5 championship

Submitted photo – The St. Bernard’s players and coaches celebrate their conference championship one Tuesday night.

The St. Bernard’s Crusaders were not in a sharing kind of mood on Tuesday.

The SB girls officially clinched the Little 5 volleyball championship outright with a four-set win over South Fork at St. Bernard’s, ending any hopes the Hoopa Warriors had of being crowned co-champs.

The Crusaders had already clinched at least a share of the conference title, but with the Hoopa Warriors right on their heels coming into the final night of the Little 5 schedule, they needed to win to ensure there would not be a split championship.

And the players delivered, running out to a 25-10, 25-6, 22-25, 25-9 win over the South Fork Cubs and closing out conference play with a record of 7-1.

The Hoopa Warriors finished 6-2 in the Little 5, with both of their losses coming against the Crusaders.

It was a fitting way to celebrate the St. Bernard’s seniors on senior night, a class that includes Nina Clayton, Ella Hart, Sarah Luna and Jocelyn Sundberg.

And all four seniors played a big part in the win.

The always-dangerous Hart finished with 14 points, six kills and six assists, while Sundberg added 16 kills, four digs and an ace.

Clayton also had a big night and added six points and three aces, while Luna finished with four points, eight serve receptions, two digs and an ace.

They weren’t the only players to impress for the St. Bernard’s girls in what was another good team performance.

Alyssa Boham did “a great job covering during the match,” according to head coach Rachel Evans, and finished with six digs and five kills, while Natalie McLaughlin served up 23 points and 14 aces and also had three “great digs.”

Sahara Tupau also made some noise in the win and finished with 20 serve receptions and nine digs while Kinsey Lemley had 14 assists and Bailey White had 11.

The Crusaders will now turn their attention to next week’s North Coast Section playoffs, with the brackets set to be announced this weekend.

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