Highland advances past Columbus

For the fourth time this season, Highland squared off with Columbus, and for the fourth time, Highland didn?t let a single set get away from them.

The Huskies cruised to set wins of 25-14, 15-15 and 25-21 to take the straight set victory in the first round of regional volleyball play to advance to a home match with winless Louisa-Muscatine next Tuesday night.

?We have to go one game at a time,? Highland head coach Christine Rath said. ?We can?t overlook or judge a team, because that could be us too. If we play to the level of the teams we play, anyone can beat us. We know that and we have to do what we need to do to win.?

The Huskies claimed their 19th win of the season with the victory, while Columbus? season ended with a 6-23 record.

Highland started the match off with a 5-1 run, and extended the Game 1 lead to 12-4.

Columbus used a 6-1 run to close the gap to 13-10, but Highland wouldn?t let it get any closer, using a 12-4 run to close the set.

In the second set, Columbus kept things tied at 6, but Highland claimed a 12-7 lead, and closed the door on the Wildcats with a 25-15 victory.

In a tight third set, the Huskies trailed 12-8, but a six-point run gave Highland the lead, and the teams traded points until Highland took a 24-21 lead. A timeout by the Huskies helped them prepare for the final point, which they claimed for the match victory.

?The message was to relax,? Rath said. ?The team is comfortable with each other and who is serving. We just had to make sure the point went down.?

The Huskies defeated the Wildcats four times this year, claiming all 10 sets the two teams played against each other.

With a lot of familiarity, Highland knew what to prepare for and what they had to do to win.

?We knew what (Columbus) did, and we knew that if we didn?t play our game, they could get us,? Rath said. ?We had to be smart about how we played to beat them.?

As the Huskies take a week off before taking on winless Louisa-Muscatine, the key is just focusing on fundamentals at practice.

?We have to keep the girls? confidence,? Rath said. ?They have to learn that they can hit the ball hard, and when they do that, magical things happen. We have to be scrappy and get everything that comes over.?

The match against L-M will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 27.