The Hillcrest Academy Raven volleyball team participated in their second quad event in just under a week, traveling to Troy Mills Tuesday to take on North Linn, Alburnett and Hudson. The Ravens fell to the home Lynx to start the night 25-17 and 25-16. They dropped their second match of the evening in straight sets to Hudson 25-13 and 25-14 before taking on Alburnett and winning their first set of year, forcing the match to three before falling to the Pirates. Hillcrest Academy head coach Brandon Statler talked about what his team can take from the night and performances that stood out. “Our spot serving was amazing, after some tough serves and serve receives last week at Fairfield. I thought we came back and really nailed both aspects. Evelyn Gerber, Grace Miller, Esther Hughes, and Malia Yoder were spot on. We struggled a little bit getting the ball to our hitters and then getting it down against the big front lines we have faced so far this year.”

Esther Hughes led the Hillcrest effort with eight kills and 22 digs. Norah Yoder had 24 assists. Hillcrest is now 0-6 on the year as they gear up for rival Lone Tree tonight on the road. The Lions come into the match with a record of 1-2 on the year and have been off since the Keota tournament August 23rd where they dropped matches to Mid-Prairie and Highland before rebounding to beat Tri-County in straight sets to end the night. On the season the Lady Lions are led by Ellen Carow with nine kills, Ella Buser with 17 assists and 19 digs. Hillcrest has won 16 of the last 21 in the series between the two schools, but Lone Tree has won two straight including a five set victory in Kalona in 2020. Action starts tonight at 7:30 in Lone Tree.