Columbus, WACO start season

The season officially began for most area volleyball teams on Monday, and a pair of teams were in Wayland to start the year.

Columbus went to the WACO tournament to kick things off, and wasn?t able to get out on the right foot.

The Wildcats fell to the host Warriors in the opening match, losing 21-12, 21-16, before playing a tight match against Van Buren in the second match of the day.

Columbus fell in the first game, 21-18, but rallied for a 21-16 victory in the second set to force a third set.

Van Buren turned it on in the final set, winning 15-3 over the Wildcats.

In the final match of the day, Columbus went up against eventual tournament champion Centerville, and fell 21-6, 21-7.

Laura Mincks led the team with 10 kills for the tournament and added 19 digs, while Kortney Orr had 18 assists.

As a team, the Wildcats served at a rate of 86 percent.

After picking up the victory over Columbus, WACO went on to defeat Van Buren 21-15, 23-21, before falling to Centerville 21-12, 21-12.

The Warriors moved into the consolation, third-place, match where they fell to Wapello 25-22, 25-19.