Columbus completes sweep of Hillcrest

KALONA — Columbus and Hillcrest Academy both entered their Thursday night matchup with just one win on the season.

By the end of the night, it was the Wildcats walking away with their second win of the year, defeating the Raven in a complete sweep 25-13, 25-20 and 25-21.

Hillcrest Academy gave it all it had, putting Columbus’ backs against the wall on numerous occasions, but it was the Wildcats night to win.

“This win is definitely going to boost our confidence and moral,” Columbus senior setter Sara Vela said. “We’ve been kinda down lately, but this is exactly what we needed for us to start playing as a team.”

In the first set of the night, it was all Columbus. The Wildcats scored the first points of the night and never lost it.

The Ravens kept it close trailing by just three at 9-6, but took control with seven straight points to make it 16-7.

Columbus outscored Hillcrest 9-6 the rest of the way.

In the early stages of set two, Columbus continued to dominate, but Hillcrest didn’t back down.

The Wildcats built up leads of 9-3, 19-14 and 21-16, but the Ravens scored four straight to bring it back within one, 21-20, the slimmest lead since Columbus led 2-1.

Columbus followed with a timeout and it was a good one as they scored four in a row to take the 2-0 match lead.

Set three was much of the same, as the Wildcats built a large lead, but the Raven dwindled it down.

Hillcrest scored the first point of the set and led 4-3, but would not lead again.

After leading 9-8, the Wildcats scored eight points in a row to take a 17-8 advantage.

The Ravens answered back with eight points of their own to make it 17-16. Hillcrest would make it 20-18, but the Wildcats won the scoring battle 5-3 the rest of the way out.

“We’re dealing with two huge injuries and these freshmen have really stepped up,” Columbus head coach Lori Beenen said. “We got two seniors on the court that have really helped them come along. This win really helped the girls confidence.”

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 2-12 on the season.

The Raven drop to 1-13 with the loss.