Faith Lutheran girls overpower Arbor View

One more point.

That’s all Faith Lutheran’s girls volleyball team needed to go up two sets to none on Arbor View in a key Northwest League match Tuesday night.

To get that one point, however, proved to be more of a challenge than the Crusaders might have liked.

After the Aggies rattled off 10 straight points with the Crusaders stuck on 24, Faith Lutheran held on and powered past the Aggies for a 25-17, 26-24, 25-17 win that boosted the Crusaders into sole possession of second place in the Northwest.

“We just had to calm down,” Faith Lutheran’s Taylor Hammer said. “We only needed one more sideout, so go get a good pass, go for the ball and kill it.”

A brief timeout by Faith Lutheran coach Amy Fisher helped get the Crusaders back into the match.

“I told them to look at the score. At that time, I think it was 24-21. I said, 'Who’s ahead? We are. So play to win,’” Fisher said. “You have to forget about the outcome and play as if it’s the beginning of the game, continue to be aggressive.

“We had aggressive errors there. They had a couple of nice hits against us, but we made some aggressive errors. They know they just have to focus on one point at a time and not get too far ahead, and they do a good job at that.”

Kelsey McCourt, who dished out 25 assists to go along with four kills and 18 digs, consistently found sophomores Hammer and Taylor Richards during the first set en route to the win.

But the middle set was a different adventure for the Crusaders (12-4, 5-1 Northwest League), many of whom have played together since middle school.

“We’ve played together since seventh grade, for about four years,” said Hammer, who tallied a team-high 10 kills and three aces. “(McCourt) is one of my best friends.”

After Hammer laid down two kills, a block and an ace in a 13-point span, Arbor View’s Falon Miller came off the bench with three of her four kills to spark the Aggies to a near-comeback on junior Natalie Stepna’s service rotation.

The Aggies battled to a 24-24 tie before an Aggies error, and Paige Henderson’s kill on a set from McCourt allowed the Crusaders to escape.

The comeback wasn’t anything new for the Crusaders, who see similar situations in practice, Fisher said.

“We do a lot of situational play — put them in situations where they’re down by five points or ahead by a couple. But we make it difficult on them to win,” she said. “What they’re seeing in games is nothing new because they experience it almost every day in practice.”

Richards finished with eight kills and three assists, primarily in the first two games, for the Crusaders. Henderson added five kills, and Vanessa Sigman chipped in six kills late in the match.

Amber Graham led Arbor View with 14 kills, 17 digs and two aces. Lorin Rader added 20 assists, 18 digs and four kills for the Aggies, who fell to 11-7 on the season and 3-2 in the Northwest.