Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy Yearbook

The Hillcrest Academy Raven volleyball team scored a road win in the Southeast Iowa Superconference Tuesday, knocking off the Louisa-Muscatine Falcons in Letts. The Ravens were winners in four, by scores of 25-20, 25-14, 28-30 and 25-23. Hillcrest head coach Brandon Statler joined this week’s KCII PM Sports Page to talk about what stood out to him in the win.

Statler said, “I would call that a game of adversity. We had both of our middles out in the two practices leading up to it. Malia Yoder had a careeer night in kills. She’s going to be a Hillcrest legend in the record books when she’s done. She’s also struggling with a quad injury but she knows how to still be effective. Hats off to Claire Withrow, still working through her foot injury and able to finish off those long matches. For the others on the team to step up and be able to mix it up when we’re short on hitters is critical. Ruth Witthoft filled in and Stavia Miller was crucial. To see the role-players step up was huge!”

Raven stat leaders included Claire Withrow with 41 assists. Malia Yoder had a career high 25 kills, Kylee Statler finished with nine. Yoder also had a team best 27 digs, Lydia Beachy added 23 and Niva Helmuth 16. Withrow’s four aces were best as were Statler’s two blocks. The win is the fifth-in-a-row for Hillcrest who is now 8-2 on the year and 2-1 in conference play. L-M remains winless at 0-7. The Ravens next compete tonight when they host Pekin.