Ravens Reach Conference Tourney Final

Article Credit: Zach Ulin/KCII

A long trip Thursday was well worth it for the Hillcrest Academy Raven volleyball team. Hillcrest, the nine seed in the Southeast Iowa Superconference tournament, finished off a 2-1 night in pool play at Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Fort Madison, to advance to Saturday’s conference tourney finals. Hillcrest opened the night with a pivotal match against the Van Buren Warriors, who they dropped a three set match to Saturday. The Ravens got their revenge, sweeping the Warriors. Hillcrest dropped their second match on the evening, in straight sets to the No. 4 in Class 1A home Crusaders, but quickly bounced back to take care of the Louisa-Muscatine Falcons in straight sets.

Stat leaders on the night included Claire Withrow with 34 assists, 14 digs and two aces. Malia Yoder finished with 20 digs, 16 kills, two blocks and two aces. Lydia Beachy had 12 digs and two aces, Kylee Statler added 11 kills. At the end of the night Raven senior Erin Bontrager and junior Claire Withrow talked with KCII Sports about the team’s play and how it feels to advance.

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Ravens Have Short Stay at Conference Finals Saturday
The Hillcrest Academy Raven volleyball team had an early end to their Saturday at the Southeast Iowa Superconference Tournament Finals at Southeastern Community College in Burlington. The Ravens, the eight seed, met up with the top seeded, No. 10 in Class 2A, West Burlington Falcons in the quarterfinals. The Falcons were winners in straight sets 25-7 and 25-7. Hillcrest leaders on the night included Malia Yoder with 11 digs and an ace, Claire Withrow with nine assists, and Niva Helmuth with four kills. West Burlington would finish second, falling to No. 4 in Class 1A Holy Trinity Catholic in the title match in three sets. The Ravens are now 16-5 on the season and travel to WACO Thursday.