Lady Cards sweep Lady Raiders

The Columbus Lady Cardinals hosted the Rice Lady Raiders on Friday, Sept. 13, making for an exciting cross-county rivalry matchup.

The Lady Cards are coming off a loss to Schulenburg that took five sets to decide while the Lady Raiders are coming off a win that also took five sets to decide.

Feeling the frustration of their loss to Schulenberg, the Lady Cards wasted no time settling into the game on Friday. Granted they were on home court, so it was a little bit easier to settle into the game but regardless they came out firing.

The Lady Cards jumped out to an early lead in their first set and never gave up the lead again for the rest of the game. They jumped all over the Lady Raiders to start the match, closing the set with a score of 25-10.

The Lady Raiders were not just going to roll over and give up after a rough first set and Lady Raiders head coach David Leist knew his team was up for the challenge. He again reminded his team to believe in themselves and play with confidence and like Tuesday’s game his team responded.

The Lady Raiders kept things close in the second set going on a six-point run to get within one point of tying the set at seven points each. The Lady Cards were a team on a mission though and looking to avenge a loss.

After a timeout by Lady Cards head coach Kaylee Johns, her team was back to executing their systems to near perfection. Offensively the Lady Cards began to pick up steam and when it was all said and done the Lady Cards secured a 25-15 win in the second set.

The third set had an identical score of 25-15 but it does not reflect just how exciting this set was. The forces of Alejandra Palacios, Abigail Hoelscher, Raelee Nelson, Klair Hailey and Breelyn Freeman against the forces of Gracie Schobel, Taylor Morrow, Caylie Neisner, Harper Gerik and Riley Kainer made for all the excitement needed for the fans in attendance.

It was a good showcase of how much talent is here in Colorado County and it was on full display in the third set. Each of those players were given an opportunity to shine in the third set and took full advantage of all of them.

The Lady Cards won the set and the match, but the Lady Raiders proved that they have the talent necessary to compete with anyone and have their sights set on a playoff spot.

Both teams are having amazing seasons and are about to enter the district part of their schedule, but first Columbus will host Industrial while Rice hosts Palacios on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Citizen | Evan Hale