Brittyn Ikeya and her St. Bernard’s teammates kept their championship hopes alive with a hard-fought win over Hoopa in Redwood League volleyball on Tuesday night.
But they had to battle for it against a Warriors team that pushed them all the way.
Ikeya, the reigning league MVP, led the way for the Crusaders, who won in five sets, 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 15-8.
The Crusaders took two of the first three sets, but the Hoopa girls would battle back, taking the fourth set to tie things up and make for an exciting finish.
And with their championship hopes on the line, the Crusaders would deliver down the stretch to set up a mouthwatering showdown on Thursday.
With the win, which was their third over Hoopa in league play, the Crusaders improved to 5-2 in the Redwood League with two games remaining, including a championship deciding showdown against Ferndale at St. Bernard’s on Thursday.
The Ferndale girls came into the week sitting atop the standings with a record of 5-1.
While no final stats were available for St. Bernard’s from Tuesday’s win, Ikeya had a big night for the team on offense.
“Brittyn Ikeya was on fire last night,” St. Bernard’s head coach Sejay Cyphers said. “She was swinging the hardest I’ve seen all season and it paid off.”
Natalia Williams also impressed for SB with a big night at the service line.
“It felt like they couldn’t get a good read off her ball,” Cyphers added of Williams.
Senior Karmen Whitecrane led a balanced team performance for the Hoopa girls and finished with team-highs in kills (eight) and blocks (six) and also had two aces.
Tylie McKinnon and Violet King each also impressed and had seven kills apiece, while Vuunsip E-Kor led the Warriors with 14 digs and also had six kills.
BellAnn King dished out a team-best 31 assists, while Luella Cosce had 13 digs and Victoria Nelson-Bautista added 11 digs.
With the loss, the Warriors dropped to 3-4 in league play.
Both teams will be back in action on Thursday night.
While the Crusaders get set for a huge showdown against the Wildcats, the Hoopa girls will host South Fork.
The Ferndale girls have won both of their first two league meetings against the Crusaders this year.
