Hornets volleyball
Continued from page 12
Columbus Catholic, 3-1
The road to the Cloverbelt-East title typically goes through the Columbus Catholic Dons, who have held the conference in a tight grip for the last decade. Any upstart team looking to dethrone the reigning champs would likely have to beat them, and the Hornets would have to do so on the road. They had their chance last Thursday and while Colby was able to take the Dons to the brink over the first few sets, they ran out of steam late and eventually fell 3-1.
Rieck started the Hornets off with a kill to give them an early lead in what would turn into a closely contested first game. A hitting error by Columbus handed the Hornets an 8-4 advantage, the largest lead by either team over the course of the set. Following that play, the Dons outscored Colby 8-2 to overtake the Hornets 12-10. The two squads battled back and forth, but a serving error by Columbus gave the visitors an opportunity to retake the lead at 17-17. Rieck delivered on the next play, hammering a kill through the Dons block to break the tie.
A ball-handling error gave Colby a chance to win the game at 24-23, but the Hornets were unable to score. They had two more set points to try and put away Columbus, but the Dons managed to survive both attempts before eventually winning three points in a row to take down Colby 28-26.
The second set was just as back and forth as the first, though this time it was the Dons who were the ones to take the first significant lead. A 12-11 lead grew to a 20-13 advantage for the home team as they outscored the Hornets 8-2 over the midgame. A kill from Schmitt finally stopped Columbus’s momentum, but Colby had some work to do to bring themselves back into the match.
With set point at 24-19, the Hornets needed to win five straight points to keep their hopes alive. Thomsen started things off with a set across the net that the Dons could not reach in their back corner before following it up with an ace. An error by Columbus prompted a timeout from the home team, but the Hornets kept it rolling. Solid defense from Colby eventually resulted in another hitting error by the Dons and then Schmitt and Trush combined for a clutch block to knot things up at 24-24.
The two teams battled back and forth, but this time it was the Hornets that would be the first to take a two point advantage. An ace from Schmitt gave Colby a 29-28 advantage and then the Hornets came up with another key block, this time a solo block by Brzezinski in the middle, that sealed the deal at 30-28.
The win seemed to have flipped momentum completely to the visitors’ side as Colby opened up a 12-2 lead in the third set. The Dons regrouped, however, and began to chip away at the large Colby lead. They went on to outscore the Hornets 15-5 over the midgame, tying things up at 17-17. The home team took the lead a few rallies later, going up 19-18 before opening up a three point lead. While Brzezinski was able to cut that lead back down to one at 23-22, the Dons went on to score the next two points and deal Colby a 25-22 defeat.
Colby never fully recovered from Columbus’s comeback effort, as the Dons used a 5-0 start to the fourth set to maintain control over the match. A kill from Schmitt followed by a hitting error from Columbus brought Colby back within two at 17-15, but that would be all the closer the Hornets would get as Columbus went on to win the set 25-19.
Three Hornets ended the game with double digit kills as Rieck recorded 15 and Thomsen and Schmitt came up with 10 each. Colby had nine total blocks on the day, Brzezinski leading the way with three solo and two assisted blocks. Brynn Polivika was part of three blocks and Schmitt and Thomsen both were in on two each. Thomsen led the team with 18 digs and Rieck and Underwood both ended the match with 16.
SMASHING SUCCESS - Hannah Trush zips the ball past the Orioles’ block during the Hornets 2-1 victory over Stanley-Boyd.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
