Lady Cards win Schulenburg Tournament

The Columbus Lady Cardinals picked up the first of what they hope is many championships in 2025.

The Lady Cardinals traveled to Schulenburg last week to compete in the Schulenburg tournament and posted an undefeated 8-0 record to win the tournament.

The Lady Cards took on some very competitive like Brazos, Sacred Heart, Shiner, St. Joe and even Schulenburg. They faced a wide variety of teams and got a good glimpse of what type of competition they may run into later in the season.

The Lady Cards dominated the gold bracket at the Schulenburg tournament and according to head coach Kayley Johns that was the plan. She said not only herself, but her team as well wanted to dominate this tournament.

They had some bad bounces and miscues defensively in their first game of the tournament but quickly returned to form to win their next seven in convincing fashion. Johns said she was proud of her team for continuing to chase down success together as a team.

While it is exciting that the Lady Cards won the tournament the honors for the team did not stop there. In addition to winning the tournament championship the Lady Cards had four players named to the All-Tournament team and one of them was even named Tournament MVP.

The Tournament MVP that was selected was none other than senior libero Caylie Neisner. Neisner was a big factor for the Lady Cards on both offense and defense as she set up helped set up some big plays offensively and showed her ability to rack up digs on defense as she was diving for every loose ball in her vicinity.

Harper Gerik, Gracie Schobel and Riley Kainer were all selected to the All-Tournament team though and for good reason. In 2025 Gerik has really stepped up her defensive game while still being a viable offensive option for the Lady Cards.

Her counterpart on the other side of the net is Schobel and as a captain of the team she leads by example. She shows no fear and jumps in front of every spike from opposing teams to ensure the ball lands back on the opponent’s side.

Then last but certainly not least is Kainer who was an excellent setter during the tournament and assisted on a lot of Gerik’s and Schobel’s kills throughout the tournament. She also showed off her savviness at the knowing when to tip the ball over to catch the defense off guard for an easy point.

The Lady Cards won this tournament but have a bigger prize in their sights for the 2025 season, they will continue to do everything possible to achieve that goal but right now they are focused on their next game on Friday, Sept. 5, when they travel to Giddings to take on the Lady Buffaloes.