One final lunge at a kill by Hillcrest Academy senior Esther Hughes just didn’t work in the Ravens’ final match on October 18.

The ball went into the net and HLV’s Warriors began their celebration on their side of the court.

One play before that, Hillcrest senior Norah Yoder had attempted the same thing.

And just like that, a high school volleyball season was over after a first-round match in the Class 1A tournament. The Ravens huddled near their bench to console each other and to thank each other. There were hugs and not necessarily tears.

This was a Hillcrest squad that had won 10 matches for the first time in four years. There actually was so much to celebrate.

Ravens head coach Brandon Statler, whose daughter Kylee played a key role alongside Hughes and Yoder in her freshman season on the front row, was a bit choked up after considering what the Ravens accomplished in his first season as a high school coach anywhere.

The past three months suddenly turned into a blur. A heartwarming blur.

“They’re such a great group. There’s so much more to the game than just the final score. It’s tough to see them like that,” he said. “Just a little bit speechless. It’s kind of like where we couldn’t find that rhythm in our offense, it’s the same feel for me right now.”

The Ravens won just three matches last year and none the year before that. When they defeated Midland in the Wilton Tournament in September 2020, the Ravens halted a losing streak that had reached 37 over three seasons.

After losing all 27 matches in 2019, the Ravens lost their first nine matches of 2020, and then 10 of their last 12, often with just one substitute on the bench.

When Statler was named Hillcrest’s newest volleyball coach, team expectations were expressed conservatively by his players. How could you expect anything else?

“I told them to set their goals and exceed them,” Statler said, “and they did that. Not one goal sheet at the beginning of the year said get to 10 wins. Some of them wanted to win more than last year.”

The Ravens hit that goal in mid-September, when they defeated Pekin for their fourth win.

Then the chase began for 10 wins.

“My goal for the year was 10 wins before I had ever met the girls,” Statler said.

Hillcrest swept Lone Tree. The Ravens swept Rivermont Collegiate. And they won three matches at the Washington Demon Volleyball Classic and beat Washington in a deciding third game in the consolation championship. A big moment.

Hughes wound up as the leading blocker in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North, and was sixth in kills.

The Ravens participated in two scrimmages the week before the postseason playoffs, and looked strong, Statler said.

But on playoff night, playing on HLV’s home court and in front of the Warriors’ home crowd, the Ravens were swept. The final game was tied 25-25 before HLV scored the final two points.

These were all building blocks, provided by the team’s five seniors of Hughes, Yoder, Grace Miller, Evelyn Gerber and Kyleigh Dolan, and passed on to junior Vlada Conea and a freshman group of four.

And that is why Brandon Statler’s voice cracked just a bit as he looked back on this season.

“Just the way that the seniors treat the freshmen and teaching them how to be players and teammates,” he said. “That’s more than I could have hoped for my daughter and the other freshmen.”

Oh, yes, the goals were certainly exceeded.

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul.