The Columbus Wildcat volleyball team scored their first Southeast Iowa Superconference match win of the season Thursday, defending their home court against visiting Hillcrest Academy. The Wildcats were winners by scores of 25-21, 15-25, 27-25 and 25-21. Following the match, Wildcat sophomore Daniela Diaz and junior Lily Coil spoke with KCII Sports, about how the night played out and getting the win. Coil said, “We had a mindset that we had to play our best and hardest, dig deep for our teammates and keep our heads up. Our back row attacks and tipping were working. Pushes, deep corners were working. Our hitters did their job. We covered tips, we started to hit line, cross and played together as a team. Props to our setter. It feels so good to finally get a conference win!”

Diaz added, “We just thought, let’s go have fun, be a team and win this! We decided to start changing some things up with some sets. Where to put them, and that worked well.”

The Wildcats were led by Diaz with 32 assists, Coil had 25 digs, 11 kills and a pair of blocks. Sophomore Jessica Del Rio finished with a pair of aces. For Hillcrest, sophomore Claire Withrow had 39 assists, junior Malia Yoder 19 digs and 18 kills. With the win, Columbus is now 3-12 on the year and 1-3 in league play. Hillcrest falls to 5-7 overall and 1-4 in conference.