COLUMBUS — The Columbus High School volleyball team swept Yoakum High School in three sets Sept. 23 at the Marley Giddens Center in Columbus by a final score of 25-17, 25-15, 25-19.
As soon as it seemed like Yoakum was going to make a comeback in each of the three sets, Columbus kept their foot on the gas
and won each set handedly with their high-powered of - fense and keeping balls off the floor on defense. "These girls have defi -
nitely set big goals from the beginning," said Columbus head volleyball coach Kayley Johns.
“They are buying into our high expectations and they have high expectations for themselves too, but they want big. They want to go
further than last year, they want to win it all, and to do that we have to push every game. They want to win in straight sets but to do that, we have hard practices and they push through it. I think what really helps is good leadership on the court.
We have some really great seniors, but not just that, I think all of them. They talk a lot, they're good friends, good chemistry and it helps a whole lot with our success.
It's not always about just the talent, it's the way they play together and for each other. We totally talk about being selfless and they are a very selfless group of girls, which is great for us."
Thea Schobel had seven kills for the night and came up with big points when it mattered most.
“I try my hardest to execute any ball the setter sets me," Schobel said. "Ulti - mately, I couldn't get the kills without our passers and setters."
A close first set led to Columbus taking a lead
as big as 17-11 later in the set after an ace from se nior Caylie Neisner. Three balls in a row out of bounds from Columbus put Yoa -
kum back in contention at
17-15, then a few mistakes of their own from the Lady
Bulldogs gave Columbus
a 24-17 advantage, which was followed by a set-win -
ning kill from Harper Gerik at 25-17.
A very similar second set was back and forth ear - ly, leading to a 22-14 ad - vantage for the Lady Cardi - nals after back-to-back aces from Lucy Schobel to make it 21-14 with some mistakes from Yoakum and some de - fensive points from Colum bus leading up to it.
A kill from Thea Scho - bel made it 22-14, then two tip balls in a row and a kill
from Columbus won them the set 25-15.
Yoakum continued to
battle early and made it 5-5 in the third set after an ille - gal hit from Columbus. The Lady Cardinals then extended their lead by a wide margin with a tip ball from Gerik, a few mistakes from Yoakum, and a couple aces from Columbus to put the score at 16-5. After holding this same kind of lead for the most of the set, Yoa kum stayed the course and eventually made it 21-17 in favor of Columbus after notching a few kills and a tip ball.
Columbus held tough and finished the match with two kills in a row, a mishit from Yoakum, and a kill to win the set and match from Thea Schobel to win it 2519.
