Lady Cards sweep early part of district schedule

The varsity volleyball team for Columbus has gotten the district portion of the season started with a dominant run throughout their first few matches. The no. 4 ranked team on the TGCA poll has yet to concede a single set so far in three matches, first winning in three-straight sets against rival Rice before sweep victories against Hallettsville on the road on Sept. 12 and Edna at home on Sept. 15.

Vs Hallettsville, W, 3-0

The Lady Cards got to show off a bit of their defensive prowess against Hallettsville as they stif led their opponents throughout each of the three sets. Hallettsville never reached the 15-point threshold as Columbus cruised to a dominant victory in their second district match.

Hallettsville had their best outing in the first set, scoring 13 points in a 25-13 defeat to open the match. The Lady Cards responded with an even stronger defensive effort in the second, winning by a 25-10 margin to strengthen their advantage in the match. Columbus finished off the sweep with a 25-12 victory.

The defense had such a strong day as the Lady Cards did not allow many strikes to come through. After getting 10 combined blocks at the net, Columbus combined for 41 total digs led by Sage Thomas with 12 and followed by Ally Tribe and Caylie Neisner with eight and seven digs respectively.

They had a strong offensive performance as well as they relied on Thomas and Tribe once again for much of their attacking. Thomas finished with 28 assists, many of which went to Tribe who finished with 15 kills in the match.

Ember Mandola finished with a season-high six service aces to keep the pressure on the Hallettsville defense.

Vs Edna, W, 3-0

Columbus finished their week with another dominant victory in a sweep. The Cowgirls were not able to keep up with the Lady Cards’ potent offensive attack as Columbus took another stressfree victory.

The Lady Cards took the first set and the third set by a 25-12 margin as the Cowgirls gave their best attempts of the match during those periods. The second set was the most dominant performance for Columbus as they defeated Edna 25-7 for their biggest margin of victory in the match.

The Lady Cards took on Edna with a balanced attacking effort led by Ally Tribe with 14 kills, Taylor Morrow who picked up seven kills in 11 attempts and Ember Mandola who had an efficient match with five kills in just seven attempts.

Each of the attackers were supported by Sage Thomas who finished the match with 26 assists and five service aces as well. Tribe also finished with five aces as the offense had a dominant combined effort.

Caylie Neisner led the way defensively with nine digs.