Young Ravens hang on for first win

Cori Jobman | The News
Hillcrest Academy started strong in all three matches in Keota on Monday night, but the Ravens struggled to close out matches, letting winnable sets slip through their fingers in both of the first two matches before hanging on for a gritty victory over the Pekin Panthers in the nightcap.

After cruising to a set one win, Hillcrest had an opportunity to close out the sweep over English Valleys, leading 18-17 in the second set, but the Ravens surrendered a late run to allow the Bears to steal game two.

Hillcrest kept it close early in the third set, keeping the game within one as late as 8-7 following a Ruth Witthoft ace, but the Bears’ experience won out, taking seven of the last 10 points to finish out the match.

It was a similar story in match two against Highland, where the Ravens forced two early Husky timeouts before letting the first set slip away on a late Highland run.

The Ravens once again had a set where they comfortably put their opponents away, winning the second set by six points, but gave up a 5-0 run in the third to lose the match.

Finally against Pekin, the Ravens pulled through.

The Panthers and Ravens split a pair of 21-19 sets, sending the Ravens to their third straight three-set match. This time, it was Hillcrest that pulled away down the stretch, taking a 15-9 third-set win to claim their first victory of the year.

“I thought it was critical for us to pull out a win tonight,” head coach Tanna Boshart said. “Every match we played went to three sets, [and there were] things that I thought we could control. I felt like we fought all the way to the end in those sets, too, but it was better to see us come out with a little bit more energy and a little bit better execution.”