A long trip Thursday was well worth it for the Hillcrest Academy Raven volleyball team. Hillcrest, the nine seed in the Southeast Iowa Superconference tournament, finished off a 2-1 night in pool play at Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Fort Madison, to advance to Saturday’s conference tourney finals. Hillcrest opened the night with a pivotal match against the Van Buren Warriors, who they dropped a three set match to Saturday. The Ravens got their revenge, sweeping the Warriors. Hillcrest dropped their second match on the evening, in straight sets to the No. 4 in Class 1A home Crusaders, but quickly bounced back to take care of the Louisa-Muscatine Falcons in straight sets.

Stat leaders on the night included Claire Withrow with 34 assists, 14 digs and two aces. Malia Yoder finished with 20 digs, 16 kills, two blocks and two aces. Lydia Beachy had 12 digs and two aces, Kylee Statler added 11 kills. At the end of the night Raven senior Erin Bontrager and junior Claire Withrow talked with KCII Sports about the team’s play and how it feels to advance

Bontrager said, “(Against Van Buren) we started fast. We recognized their skillset and how they work as a team. We really came out wanting to beat them this time after the loss over the weekend. I think we also have more confidence. It’s fun to see everyone celebrating together, knowing this is the first time it’s ever happened and we get to experience it together.”

Withrow added, “(Van Buren) is a smart team and we had to adapt to that. I think we did a great job. It feels great (to advance). This team is amazing. Just to see the growth and our hard work paying off.”

The Ravens are now 16-4 this year and will take the floor in Saturday’s tournament finals at 5p.m. against the West Burlington Falcons at Southeast Community College in Burlington.