ST. JOSEPH — Saxony Lutheran girls volleyball coach Dawn Ozark had nothing but good to say about the Lady Crusaders’ first-ever trip to the Class 3 state volleyball finals.
“I think some of our girls were kind of experiencing those jitters that come along with competing on such a big stage, but overall, I was really, really proud of how well they did,” Ozark said.
The only real downside to the trip, she said, was getting swept 3-0 in both the semifinal round and the third-place game, leaving the Lady Crusaders (18-21) with a fourth-place finish in the program’s first-ever trip to the state finals.
“We took on an exciting Mt. Vernon team in our state semifinal game, and they were a good team,” Ozark said. “We were able to compete very well with them. Then, going into our third-place game, we were facing a very tough Oak Grove team.”
Oak Grove (36-1-1) was undefeated until their state semifinal game against eventual Class 3 champion Helias Catholic, and were ready to gain some measure of revenge, topping the Lady Crusaders 25-8, 25-22, 25-22 to claim third place.
“They were an excellent team,” Ozark said. “Our first set, I think our girls were still trying to shake off some of those jitters, but we came back and competed extremely well in the next two sets, losing by three in each set. I feel like we were able to finish really strong and be competitive. And that was the one thing that I was hopeful for going into that state tournament.”
Complete statistics for the Lady Crusaders were unavailable as of Tuesday morning. Still, Ozark said it would be difficult to highlight any individual players because of the small size of her team.
“With a team of 11, they all kind of had moments where they were standing out,” Ozark said. “I think, all in all, when you do have a team that is that small, it gives the opportunity for each individual athlete to kind of stand out as well as contribute to the overall success. They did really well.”
In fact, Ozark said having a smaller team was a little bit of a benefit.
“Our smaller team, I think, really helped us kind of create a bond,” Ozark said, “and work hard to get everyone the opportunity to compete. “We’re looking forward to punching another ticket next year.”
