Jesuit volleyball got a little closer to perfection with a straight-set road victory at the home of its biggest Metro League rival, Sunset, Tuesday night.
The idea of the Crusaders getting even better has to be a discouraging thought for the rest of the state to consider. The No. 1 Crusaders (17-4) haven’t lost to an Oregon team this year — all four losses were in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix two weeks ago — and have gone 38-1 in sets to Oregon schools.
But if Jesuit is the gold standard in the Metro League this year, Sunset is the silver. The second-ranked Apollos are big, athletic and competitive — especially on their own court. And going into the Tuesday match, they were 15-1; the only blemish being a straight set loss at Jesuit a month ago.
So Jesuit’s 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18 victory on Tuesday was all the more impressive. The Crusaders surrendered a 5-1 lead in the first set to the Apollos, then stormed back to take the set — and set the tone. The rest looked relatively easy.
Jesuit might have been as efficient as it’s been all year. Its big front line controlled the net while the Crusader back-liners dug out excellent Sunset smashes and bumped the ball to sophomore setter Alison Buchholz. Buchholz, who had an impressive 48 assists in the three games, had her choice of ball assassins to whom she could pass.
A lot of the time it was senior outside hitter Rose Booth, who pounded the Apollos with 15 kills — including the match’s final point, a smash that ricocheted off three Apollos on its way to the floor. Sometimes it was senior middle blocker Alyssa Hughes, who had 12.
But it was always somebody. That’s the way Crusader coach Teresa Zimmerlee wanted it.
“It was definitely a team effort tonight,” she said. “We speeded up our game tonight. We wanted to get quicker sets. And we got more and more consistent as the passing got better.”
Booth said the Crusaders drew a lot of energy from the crowd, which included a wall full of noisy Sunset students.
“The energy just fires everybody up,” she said. “This is what we play for — to play well at a place like this. It’s nice to beat Sunset in front of its own crowd.
“We did speed up our game tonight. When we’re playing well, and the distribution is going well, it sets up a lot of things for all of us.”
And just in time. The Crusaders have probably their last serious regular-season challenge on Thursday when they travel to fourth-ranked newcomer Mountainside for what is likely to be another high-decibel Metro brawl.
But now the Crusaders know what a big road win looks like, too.
