SEGUIN — The Columbus High School volleyball team edged out a playoff win to keep their season afloat Nov. 6 at Se guin High School with a win vs Jourdanton High School by a fi nal score of 25-21, 25-15, 17-25, 25-17. Each set was relatively close, but Columbus was able to execute a tad batter with their attacking and pull away with the four set victory. "We just talk about being consistent,” said Columbus head volleyball coach Kayley Johns.
"Honestly, playing the same way we've done all year. We have to be consistent. We have to play Columbus volleyball the way we do it, which is good defense and get up and swing hard. We had a few too many errors, especial- ly in set three that we lost. We had 15 errors that we gave up and that’s not ok against a good team. They're a good team. They came and swung and they did re- ally good. I told them at the end, we were very resilient. I'm very proud of them for that. For com -
ing back and fighting hard in that last game. That's how we play and that’s what we need to do at this time of the year because it’s only going to get stronger teams from here." Columbus junior outside hit ter Taylor Morrow is one of the better hitters on the team and had six kills that seemed to come in crucial moments. "It's a lot of team work and stuff,” Morrow
said. "We always get the job done with togetherness. Not one per - son does it. We all work together to achieve the goal of going to state and winning state."
Jourdanton took a a 7-3 lead in the first set after a kill before Columbus quickly tied the set at seven on an illegal hit from Jour- danton. After both teams traded punches midway, the Lady Cardinals pulled away with fourstraight points, which included a kill and a tip ball from Morrow, an illegal hit from Jourdanton, and a block from Columbus for the Lady Cardinals to go ahead 21-17. The Lady Indians climbed back with a ball out of bounds from Columbus and a point of their own to make it 22-20, then back-to-back points from Lady Cardinals senior middle blocker Ember Mandola on a kill and an ace won the set for Columbus 25-- 21.
The second set started well for Columbus with a 5-1 lead and eventually stretched it to a 16-8 advantage after a kill from senior outside hitter Ally Tribe with a few kills, a few tip balls, and some mistakes from Jourdan- ton before hand. A small streak of points from the Lady Indians made it 22-15 and Columbus closed out the set with a kill from Mandola, an ace, and a kill from Tribe at 25-15.
Jourdanton raced off to a big lead early in the third set and forced Columbus to call timeout after a 7-2 advantage on some kills and capitalizing on Colum- bus' mistakes. Jourdanton kept their cushion and put it at 14-4 after an ace and continued errors from the Lady Cardinals, then Jourdanton found themselves closing in on the set at 19-11 on a serve out of bounds from Co- lumbus. Two kills in a row from Columbus’ Tribe made it 21-14, which led to a block and and a kill from the Lady Indians, as well as an illegal hit from Columbus to win the set for Jourdanton 25-17.
A much closer fourth set with both teams battling put the score at 9-9 after a ball in the net from Jourdanton. Columbus would notch three points in a row on a kill from Morrow, a kill from Mandola, and an illegal hit from the Lady Indians for a 15-10 scoreboard in favor of Colum- bus. A kill from Tribe and a tip ball from Columbus senior setter Sage Thomas made it 17-11, which was followed by a handful of errors from Jourdanton, another kill from Tribe, a kill from Lady Cardinals sophomore Gracie Schobel, and another kill from Mandola to win the set and match 25-17.
