Crusaders Cruise In Opening Tuesday Night Tilt

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I watched my first matches at Kapaun Mt. Carmel on August 3, and the home team did not disappoint.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Crusaders handily defeated Wichita Southeast in the opening match of triangular play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at three ranked Crusader prospects who had nice matches. The Crusaders played a ton of talent, so look for more players from their squad to show up in upcoming reports featuring unranked talent.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Crusaders won the first set 25-4, but did not give their starters much court time in a 25-16 second set win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219717' first='Kaitlyn' last='Cure']</strong>, 5'9”, DS/L, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cure is ranked No. 115 overall in the class of 2025. Cure was a prospect I was excited about seeing. She has a nasty serve that had coaches and defenders in awe. She is very accurate with her serve and hit back-row and front-row zones. She collected one kill, three digs, four serve receptions, and two aces in part-time play. She wore the Libero Jersey in the first set and then hit some in the second set. She finished her junior season with 219 digs and 149 kills. She has yet to receive a college offer and I would not hesitate to recommend her to MIAA programs in the area and all NAIA and JUCO programs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='489751' first='Mason' last='Palace']</strong>, 5'11”, MB, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Palace is ranked No. 115 overall in the class of 2026.  Prep Dig has her listed as a middle blocker since she played that position for her club team. She hits outside for the Kapaun, but I feel she is better suited to be a middle at the collegiate level. She had three kills and two assists in the first set against Southeast. She did not play in the second set. She is athletic and elevates, but I am not sure she is quite quick enough on the outside to play there in college. I love her leadership and she played solid defense for a taller player. Her versatility makes her an ideal candidate to be recruited as an athlete and then wait and see how she fits in with the other tools on a roster.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='489769' first='McCoy' last='Phister']</strong>, 5'9”, S, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Phister is ranked No. 56 overall in the class of 2026.  He can do it all on the court. She played setter, took some swings, and played solid defense. I was upset to hear that she is considering not playing club ball this season. She had two kills and two digs in limited playing time after the first set. I appreciate her skill set so, I hope she reconsiders and continues to play the sport at both the high school and club level. However, if she has other aspirations and goals she wants to chase then she is showing proof of maturity and level-headedness.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->