The Columbus Wildcats hosted one of a handful of satellite sites for pool play to open the Southeast Iowa Superconference volleyball tournament Thursday. Joining the ‘Cats on their home court were KCII-area school Hillcrest Academy along with Van Buren and Burlington Notre Dame.

Columbus went 1-2 on the day, dropping matches to Notre Dame 21-6 and 21-10 and Van Buren 21-12 and 21-14 before rebounding to win a three-set thriller over the Ravens to close the day 21-11, 24-26 and 15-10. After their win over Hillcrest, Wildcat sophomores Jocelyn Hernandez and Kennedy Woepking talked with KCII sports about the victory. They said, “(Tight matches) are a pretty high stress situation, so you have to come together with your team and believe that you can carry a win. You have to have trust in your teammates and have enthusiasm, no matter if you win or lose the point. I think we have really good communication. I think we did a good job of hitting our tips and roll shots and finding open spots on the court.”

The Wildcats are now 4-14 overall.

The Ravens were 0-3 in the tourney. Along with the loss to Columbus, Hillcrest was on the wrong end of 21-14 and 21-18 scores against Notre Dame and 21-10 and 21-17 scores against Van Buren. The Ravens fall to 6-8.

The Nikes and Warriors move on to Saturday’s finals of the Superconference tournament. Notre Dame beat Van Buren head-to-head 21-14 and 22-20. Saturday’s action will be played at Southeastern Community College in Burlington.