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The no. 8 ranked Lady Cards’ volleyball team has been facing off against some tough competition as they have frequently played higher division teams throughout their tournament schedule. Their most recent tournament even included some 6A teams as the Lady Cards battled to take fifth place in the LCISD-hosted competition. Columbus claimed fifth place out of 40 teams after their performance with Ally Tribe being named to the All-Tournament team.
Vs. St. Joseph, W, 3-0
The Lady Cards got their week started with a non-district competition that went firmly in their favor. After a big 25-11 win in game one, Columbus went on to win the next two sets by the same margin, matching their 25-21 in both games to claim the match victory.
The Lady Cards’ statistical leaders were Sage Thomas who had 27 assists, Ally Tribe who had 12 kills and Ember Mandola who had 10 digs. Caylie Neisner had eight digs while Gracie Schobel and Taylor Morrow had six and five kills respectively.
Vs. Fulshear JV, W, 2-0
Columbus got their tournament run started against a 5A program, despite the team only being able to send out their JV squad. They still gave Columbus some quality competition as the Lady Cards won in game one by a 25-18 margin and won game two by a closer score of 25-20.
Sage Thomas set up 19 of her teammates for scores while leading the team with six digs as well. Ally Tribe had 11 kills while Taylor Morrow, Ember Mandola and Gracie Schobel contributed four kills each.
Vs. Westside, W, 2-0
Columbus moved up weight classes from 5A to face a 6A team in their next match. However, they took an even more defined advantage over their opponents as they won a 25-17 battle in game one and dominated on the way to a 25-9 win in game two.
Sage Thomas finished the match with 24 setter assists, many of which went in the direction of Ally Tribe who finished with 16 kills. Ashlyn Carter led the team in digs with eight.
Vs. Travis, W, 2-0
The Lady Cards dropped back down to face a 5A team for their last pool play game of the tournament. Things went in their favor as they took a 25-15 victory in the first set before holding on for a 25-20 win in game two.
Sage Thomas once again reached the 20-assist threshold with 21 in the match and Caylie Neisner led the team in digs with nine.
Vs. Foster, L, 2-1
The first loss of the tournament came against a 5A Foster team that had lost only four matches all season, the same as the Lady Cards entering the match. After taking a 25-22 advantage in game one, Columbus lost game two by a 25-21 margin to force a game three. The Lady Cards battled in the final set, forcing the match into a win-bytwo situation past 25. However, they could not take the advantage as they fell in a 26-24 defeat.
Several players had their tournament-high totals in this game as Sage Thomas had 34 setter assists, Caylie Neisner had 15 digs and Ally Tribe had 22 kills. Thomas also contributed 11 digs defensively along with Sophia Wolters who added the same number of digs.
Vs. Katy Jordan, W, 2-1
The disappointment of their previous loss may have had the Lady Cards starting out slow during their first match of the consolation bracket against a 6A team from Katy. Columbus opened the match with a 25-13 defeat as they struggled to get early momentum. They locked in following that loss, taking game two 25-22 and game three 25-23 as they battled out of a difficult consolation round.
Sage Thomas had over 20 assists and digs with 26 set ups and 21 digs on the receiving end. Ashlyn Carter, Sophia Wolters and Ally Tribe all had double-digit digs with 15, 13 and 10 digs respectively. Tribe also added 14 kills in the match.
Vs. East Bernard, W, 2-0
The first game in the consolation bracket championship match proved to be one of the longest the Lady Cards had ever played in their history. The set went significantly past the magic number of 25 as they battled to a 37-35 victory in game one. Game two was much less harrowing for the Lady Cards as they ran out to an early lead and claimed a 25-15 win to secure a tie for fifth place overall in the tourney.
Sage Thomas nearly had another 20-20 match with 29 setter assists and a team-leading 19 digs. Caylie Neisner finished with 11 digs of her own, and Ally Tribe had eight digs to go along with 19 kills to end the tournament.
