The Hillcrest Academy Raven volleyball team started 2021 facing the stiff competition of larger schools at the Fairfield Quad Tournament Thursday. Hillcrest met Eddyville-Blakesburg, Albia and Fairfield on the first night of the season in three best of three matches. The Ravens were swept by all three of their opponents. The Rockets beat Hillcrest by matching 21-10 scores in two sets, Albia got by the Ravens by 21-16 and 21-11 and Fairfield beat Hillcrest 21-7 and 21-14 to end the night. After the contests, first year Hillcrest head coach Brandon Statler talked about his team’s play, the standouts, and what he learned about his squad. “The speed of the game is a lot faster than what we can simulate in practice. You can only do so much without this experience. The girls got their eyes opened tonight and it took a little bit for them to adjust, but they finished strong. I thought our team defense was good, but our reads were a little off, but those are things that we can fix. I thought Esther Hughes played a great all-around game and Nora Yoder was hustling with the serves coming at her as fast as they were, even though she was somewhat limited by injury. We showed a lot of heart, I knew this was a great group of kids, they work hard, they want to win, they work well together and I’m proud of that.”

The Ravens are now 0-3 on the season and will next be in action at the North Linn Quad on Tuesday.