Wildcats fall in four at Winfield-Mt. Union

Despite committing a few more errors than head coach Dave Pieart would have liked, Winfield-Mt. Union won Thursday?s Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division volleyball match against visiting Columbus in four sets.

The Wolves won the first two games, both by a 25-19 score, but Columbus took the third set 25-18. The Wolves recovered in the final set for a 25-20 win to take the match.

?Our biggest struggle was closing it,? Columbus head coach Lori Beenen said. ?We had mental errors.?

The Wolves (6-2, 2-0 SEISC North) had their share of errors as well, especially at the net, but played well enough in the other aspects of the game to claim a victory.

?Keys to the win were our serve receive and defense,? Pieart said. ?We struggled a bit on offense tonight.?

After winning the opening set, the Wolves looked as if they were in trouble in the second one. The Wildcats (2-8, 1-3 SEISC North) went up 18-15 and had momentum on their side.

But Winfield-Mt. Union senior Alicia Escher spiked down a kill to stop the Wildcats? run and then went on to serve her team to game point, including two aces. A Columbus serving error ended the set.

?[Escher] had a couple of serving streaks,? Pieart said. ?It?s nice to have a senior back there.?

?We just weren?t seeing the ball,? Beenen said. ?Usually we?re pretty good at that, but she?s got a tough serve.?

Escher finished the night 21-for-22 serving with four aces, but she wasn?t the only one who gave the Wildcats some trouble.

?Most of our players did a good job serving tonight,? Pieart said.

Junior Layne Davis went 14-for-15 from the service line and had two aces. Senior Anna Crawford was a perfect 13-for-13 with one ace. And senior Katie Benson was also a perfect 13-for-13.

Serving might have helped the Wolves at the end of the third set, but hitting errors prevented them from gaining possession of the ball.

With a 19-18 advantage, Columbus senior Megan Pretz took over serving for the Wildcats, and she?d continue through the end of the set. Senior Christine Milder?s block made the score 21-18, and then four consecutive Wolves? hitting errors gave Columbus the game. Twice the ball was spiked into the net, the third hit was long, and the last one was wide.

But in the final set, the Wolves pulled it all together and the Wildcats let their momentum get the best of them.

?We were pushing the ball too deep,? Beenen said. ?They knew they could win, so adrenaline was high, and when that happens, the ball tends to fly.?

Winfield-Mt. Union took advantage of its opportunity to close the door. The Wolves won the first point and never relinquished the lead. Junior Shelby Theme?s kill ? one of eight on the night ? ended the match.

Escher led the Wolves with 13 kills on the night, followed by junior Erica Robison with nine. Junior Emily Mathews had seven. Benson had 29 assists, and Crawford had 23 digs.

Stewart led Columbus with five kills, and freshman Laura Mincks had 19 digs on the night. The team finished with 15 blocks, and eight of them came from Pretz, including five solo blocks. Milder and sophomore Kelsey Pretz added three blocks apiece.

Next up for Columbus will be the Wildcats? first home game of the season. They host Lone Tree on Tuesday.