Spirits Soar with Thrilling Matches for Ravens Volleyball

**Ravens take 3rd place in the Washington Tournament on Saturday, October 9.** Front L to R: Grace Miller, Evelyn Gerber, Norah Yoder, Kyleigh Dolan, Vlada Conea. Back L to R: Manager Jacob Smith Derkson, Lydia Beachy, Esther Hughes, Coach Brandon Statler, Kylee Statler, Malia Yoder, and Erin Bontrager.

The Raven Volleyball Team took the court Thursday hosting Highland for the final home conference match of the 2021 season. The atmosphere was tournament caliber as both schools crowds wanted to see their squads clinch 4th place in the SEISC- North Division.

Nobody that came out was disappointed with the show until the final ball dropped. It was a back and forth thriller from the first serve until the end. The Ravens won the volleys all night, but were unable to fend off some tough serving rallies in the end. Though the Ravens scored more points on the evening overall, they fell in 4 – (24-26, 25-11, 23-25, & 23-25).

It did not take long, however, for the Rematch. Less than 48 hours later, the same two teams were warming up again for Hillcrest/ Highland part 2 at the Washington 8 team tournament Saturday, October 9.

The Ravens would not be denied. They won the volleys as well as the serving battle, building big leads and holding off the Highland serving attack. When the final ball dropped, the Ravens were the team to advance, in large part to a ferocious hitting attack by Vlada Conea, Esther Hughes, and Malia Yoder.

The Sigourney Savages were up next, and the Ravens had winning on their minds… Norah Yoder did an amazing job using 6 different attackers and kept the Savages off balance much of the match. The Ravens were stuck on match point late in set 3 as Sigourney made their final push. Kylee Statler rejected Sigourney’s final middle attack to send the Ravens to 2-0 on the day and a guaranteed spot in the championship bracket.

After two back and forth, emotional matches, the Ravens did suffer a little letdown in their next match against Waco. They fought hard in the volleys, completed their serves, and battled on receive. They just couldn’t find the fire to lead and lost in straight sets by 2 and 3 points. The Ravens were due for a break after playing or working 4 straight sets, and finally got it before playing in the champions bracket and the home team, Washington.

Washington came out clicking as the home team should, looking strong off the bat and taking set 1. But the Ravens were not done yet. A huge serving run by Malia Yoder, & and set 2 belonged to the Ravens. Set 3 looked to be back and forth when Esther Hughes found a matchup in the middle that she liked. Norah Yoder exposed the mismatch, allowing Esther to hammer down 3 kills in the last 5 points. Spirits were soaring and the Ravens had a 3rd place finish to end their regular season on an amazing note.