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The Columbus Lady Cardinals traveled to St. Joseph’s High School to take on the West Oso Lady Bears on Tuesday, Nov. 12 in Victoria.
The Lady Cards only needed three sets to win the match but it was all that easy.
“We had to make some adjustments and be very gritty,” Lady Cards head coach Kayley Johns said. “We haven’t played a team like this all year, they are very athletic, they run down balls and are a very good team.”
The Lady Bears athleticism was on full display at the start of the match as they quickly jumped out to an 11-7 lead over the Lady Cards. They were in complete control of the momentum and dominated the plays at the net which forced the Lady Cards to call timeout and settle the game down.
“It was just a matter of changing the momentum,” Johns said. “Slow the game down and tell them ‘we’re fine, it’s still early in the game, we have got to play our game though and stop making so many mistakes.’” Coming out of the timeout Riley Kainer recorded a tough dig that got the Lady Card fans in attendance on their feet. The timeout coupled with the dig both reset and gave the momentum to the Lady Cards which sent them on a 10-3 run that forced the Lady Bears to call a timeout.
The timeout proved to be fruitful for the Lady Bears as well, they quickly closed the gap on the scoreboard. With the scoreboard showing 22-21 in favor of the Lady Cards and with the set point within reach the Lady Cards finished the set on a 3-2 run to win the first set.
In the second set it was the opposite of the first set, the Lady Cards secured an early lead, the Lady Bears call timeout and then they came back and retook the lead. The Lady Cards though will never stop fighting for a win and they unloaded on the Lady Bears.
The Lady Cards retook the lead late in the second set and stepped on the gas pedal after that. They ended up winning the second set by a score of 25-22 but they still needed to win one more set to advance.
The Lady Cards came out firing in the thrid set as they took off to a 14-5 lead to start the set. The Lady Bears called timeout to try to settle things down and once again it worked.
The Lady Bears began to climb back into the game slowly but surely, the Lady Cards felt comfortable though with a 23-18 lead late in the third set. The Lady Bears scored two quick points and Johns again had to call a timeout.
“They were getting too many points in a row, and we had to take a deep breath settle back down, tell them ‘We are good’ and finish the game,” Johns said.
The Lady Cards closed out the match shortly after and quickly shifted their focus to their game on Thursday against Goliad in Cuero.
