Lady Cards display depth at Lady Raider Volleyball Classic

The Columbus Lady Cardinals traveled to Rice to participate in the Lady Raider Volleyball Classic and started things off with a bang.

The Lady Cards wasted no time making their presence felt in the tournament against their first three opponents during Day one of the tournament.

Their first game was against a familiar foe, Tidehaven, and the Lady Cards swept them (25-18; 25-19). The Lady Cards next game against Shiner had the same result with the Lady Cards being named the winner in only two sets (25-23; 25-12).

Finally, their last game was against Hallettsville Sacred Heart where once again it only took two sets for the Lady Cards to claim victory (25-18; 25-21). The Lady Cards starting six is a force to reckon with.

There is no doubt about that but their players coming off the bench made the biggest impact in these wins. Kyndal Kuhn, Mary Fitzgerald, Logan Glueck and Emma Calhoun all received ample opportunities to showcase their talent on the volleyball court and took full advantage of those opportunities.

The Lady Cards were dealing with a few minor injuries that limited their roster but with these four stepping up when their team needed them the Lady Cards were flying high heading into Day two. Day two saw the Lady Cards start the day with a back-to-back against the hosting Rice and then St. Paul right after.

Columbus won both games, Vs. Rice (25-8; 25-13) and Vs. St. Paul (25-11; 25-17) in two sets to improve their tournament record to 5-0. They had one last game scheduled for Day two of the tournament where they matched up with Iola.

The depth of the Lady Cards again was on display because no matter what combination of players Lady Cards head coach Kaylee Johns put out there, they were successful.

This is where things got dicey for the Lady Cards, they jumped out to an early lead on Iola and had a firm grasp of the momentum. Iola called timeout to try to settle things down and unfortunately for the Lady Cards they came out of that time out and completely locked down the Lady Cards offense.

Iola then found their rhythm on offense and before long the set was over with a score of 25-10, and Iola was standing victorious. This was the Lady Cards first set loss in the tournament and had to came back in the second set with some more intensity.

The Lady Cards did just that and were much more competitive in the second set. Iola was still in the rhythm from the first set both offensively and defensively and beat the Lady Cards again 25-17.

Columbus was sitting with a 5-1 record and found themselves again in the Gold bracket where they looked to secure a medal. But the Lady Cards struggled during bracket play.

They took on Burton first with the winner earning a spot in the Championship game. The Lady Cards dropped both sets (26-24; 25-22) setting up a matchup against Weimar for 3rd place.

The Lady Cards won the first set 25-15 but after that the struggles continued dropping back-to-back sets to Weimar (25-20; 25-23). It was a very competitive game with both teams showcasing a ton of talent but unfortunately the Lady Cards were on the wrong side of this one.

With the Lady Raiders Volleyball Classic in the rear view the Lady Cards turn their attention to their next game on Friday, Sept. 6, against Giddings where they look to get back int he win column.