Game Changers by Shirk Photography. Photo Courtesy of WMU Volleyball Social Media

It was a happy Senior Night Thursday for the Winfield-Mt. Union Lady Wolves volleyball team as they took a four set Southeast Iowa Superconference win over the visiting Hillcrest Academy Ravens. After dropping game one to the visitors 25-17, the Wolves ripped off three straight to complete the comeback against the Ravens 25-19, 25-19 and 25-21. WMU Stat leaders included Madisen Kellogg with 42 assists. Kellee Milks had a dozen kills and Kynlee Buffington 11 to go with seven blocks. Pacey Schlee led the defense with 28 digs, Josie Nelson finished with 23. Quin Smith had three blocks and two aces, and Kaelyn Townsley had four aces. After the match, the two Winfield-Mt. Union Seniors, Nelson and Schlee joined KCII Sports to talk about the night and the win.

Schlee said, “It’s crazy that we’re the oldest on the team now. For four years we’ve watched all of the other seniors play their last game and it’s wild that was us tonight. (After the first set), Coach just told us to clean it up. We all knew that we could play better than that. Clean up our errors and fix our mistakes. Positivity is something we have been trying to work on.

Nelson continued, “The fan support was amazing! I’m glad everyone was here tonight. We all came with a positive attitude. I think our offense started clicking. We started moving and everything flowed well.”

Hillcrest leaders included 31 assists for Claire Withrow, 22 digs and 21 kills for Malia Yoder and 16 digs and 10 kills for Niva Helmuth. Kylee Statler had four blocks and Lydia Beachy four aces.

The win moves WMU to 11-10 on the year and 4-3 in conference, while the Ravens fall to 4-3 in the league and 17-7 overall.