Kings Christian's Lady Crusaders clicking on all cylinders as Section playoffs loom

Next stop the CIF Central Valley Section playoffs.

Coach Todd Martin’s Lady Crusaders are the talk of the small-school sports world where league foes include Fresno Christian (11-2), Wonderful College Prep Academy, Summit Charter Collegiate Academy, Laton High School, and Alpaugh High.

Martin has coached the Lady Crusaders for the past three years. The 41-year-old coach attended high school in Hawaii and earned his degree from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He teaches math, bible, science, and PE at the local Christian school on East D Street.

Since dropping a 3-1 match to Fresno Christian on Sept. 25, the Lady Crusaders turned the table on its East Sierra League foes, the very next day, Kings Christian beating Fresno Christian 3-1 to begin a seven-game winning streak that continued Thursday afternoon (Oct. 11) with a 3-2 win over – you guessed it – Fresno Christian.

“We finished our league play last week,” said Martin. “The only team we lost to (Fresno Christian) we also beat twice,” he said proudly. “We beat them twice in league play.”

Their longest losing streak this was two matches, a loss to Fresno Christian and Kerman High School in the Caruthers Volleyball Tournament in August.

This year’s march to respectability was anchored in an impressive 2017 season when a year ago the Crusaders went 22-3-1 and 12-1 in the East Sierra League, winning the title. McFarland handed Kings Christian its only league setback, a 3-1 loss on Oct. 3, 2017.

The Crusaders entered the Division 5 playoffs and won twice before falling to eventual champion Sierra Pacific.

This year’s crop of Crusaders includes just about everyone from last year’s team: Madisyn Rose, Camryn Vanderziel, Claire Broomfield, Laci Rose, Rebekah Sills, Samantha Clevenger, and Kylie Pierce.  The only newcomer is Analeah Facio-Dick.

The Crusaders don’t always settle for the small schools. They take on the big girls too. “We typically are playing schools bigger than ours enrollment-wise,” said Martin. “We started with just eight girls on varsity this year. We’re playing with just seven girls (one young player left the team for medical reasons). They play hard, and they play well. They’re also flexible with positioning. They can play out of position.”

The Central Section Division 5 playoffs are slated to begin Oct. 25, and because Kings Christian is a league champion, the initial contest should be in the Crusaders’ gym. “The seedings will be out this week,” said Martin.