Witthoft fuels set four comeback to lift Ravens over WACO

The Hillcrest Academy volleyball burned its final timeout of the fourth set with a 20-12 deficit to the visiting WACO Warriors. A fifth set seemed inevitable.

Senior middle blocker Ruth Witthoft ensured that didn’t happen, delivering a critical service run to bring the Ravens within striking distance as they came back to claim the set and win the match 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-10, 26-24).

WACO came out hot in the first set, establishing a 7-1 lead to open the match and holding off a mid-set Raven rally to take the first set 25-21. Throughout the first, the Warrior block prevented Hillcrest from generating any pressure at the net, allowing WACO to keep its foot on the gas. In the second set, the balance of the mat shifted in favor of the Ravens, thanks in large parts to Witthoft’s leadership both on and off the court.

“[Ruth] means a lot as the only senior,” Hillcrest head coach Tanna Boshart said. “She was not happy after the first set, she got into the team huddle and said, ‘Hey, this isn’t what we do, this isn’t how we play, we’re not giving our best,’ and I think the team responded to that.”

Witthoft found her first kill of the night to end an opening 3-0 WACO service run, and that kill kickstarted the Ravens. Annika Schrock, Jalise Bailey and Brynna Boshart ripped off three consecutive kills to give the Ravens their first lead of the night. The Ravens didn’t trail for the rest of the set. A 7-0 service run for Brynna, a run that included a series in which Witthoft collected two kills and a solo block on three consecutive points, put the set away, pulling the match to a 1-1 tie.

Boshart kicked the third set off on another run, giving the Ravens the serve win an opening kill to open a 4-0 run, setting up Witthoft for a 4-0 run that gave Hillcrest an early 10-3 lead. When Boshart came back around to serve, she came up with a 7-0 run to end the set in Hillcrest’s favor and give the Ravens a 2-1 lead.

WACO started the fourth set on a long run, taking an immediate 9-3 lead and forcing Hillcrest head coach Tanna Boshart to burn her first timeout. The Ravens momentarily pulled it within four, but WACO extended its lead back to eight and forced Hillcrest to use its final timeout. A packed Hillcrest student section received a warning from the up official, lengthening the stoppage and putting a charge of energy into the Raven fans. That charge pushed the Ravens on despite the gym being much warmer than normal thanks to air conditioning issues and a heat advisory outside.

“To play in a home gym with a good environment is big,” coach Boshart said. “The student section was into it and providing energy, it was blazing hot in here, and [the team] didn’t fold.”

With Hillcrest’s back against the wall, Witthoft stepped back to the service line and delivered her biggest run of the night.

Witthoft delivered three aces on a 6-0 run that brought Hillcrest within two at 21-19.

“I’m so happy, because I’ve always wanted to serve and finally it’s my year and I can finally do my spin serves,” Witthoft said. This is her first season getting serving opportunities at the varsity level.

The Ravens and Warriors began trading points, creeping toward the end of the set as the serve went back and forth. Hillcrest needed a player to break the parity to extend the set. Freshman Becca Elam did just that.

Elam stepped to the service line and delivered her third ace of the night, pulling the set within one and forcing a WACO timeout.

“All my teammates supporting me and all the people around me made me be more aggressive,” Elam said of her serves throughout the night.

Elam went on a 3-0 run, capped off when Brynna Boshart tooled the block to give Hillcrest match point. WACO survived the first match point, but Brynna struck a kill off the hands of the Warrior block again to give the Ravens their second match point. This time, WACO couldn’t fight back. The Warriors were called for a double hit on a free ball pass, ending the set 26-24 and the match 3-1. Hillcrest had completed the comeback.

“I’m so proud of the girls,” coach Boshart said. “They wanted it and they didn’t quit. One of the things I think this team possesses is that grit and determination, and that’s something we work when we’re conditioning and doing the things that they don’t like to do, things that are hard, it’s like, “Hey, this is what we need to be able to do in games.’”

Boshart and Witthoft were dominant from the first serve to the final point of the match. Witthoft had a shared match-high three blocks, including two solo blocks, and a career-high and shared match-high six aces to go with seven kills. Boshart netted a career-high and shared match-high 12 kills and a career-high and match-high 17 digs.

Ravens split EV tourney

Hillcrest went 2-2 at Saturday’s English Valleys tournament, claiming a 2-0 win over WACO (21-16, 21-16) and a 2-1 win over Sigourney (12-21, 21-19, 15-10) while losing 2-0 to Winfield-Mt. Union (21-17, 21-15) and East Marshall (21-15, 21-19). The Ravens sit at 4-4 (1-0) following the tournament. Complete stats for the English Valleys tournament were not available as of Tuesday morning.

Statistical leaders:

Hillcrest kills: Brynna Boshart 12; Annika Schrock 9; Ruth Witthoft 7; Jalise Bailey, Ella Slaubaugh 2; Claire Miller 1

Hillcrest assists: Emma Parizek 28; Boshart 1

Hillcrest digs: Boshart 17; Miller 13; Schrock 9; Becca Elam 8; Witthoft 5; Parizek 3; Bailey 1

Hillcrest blocks: Witthoft 3; Schrock, Slaubaugh, Bailey 1

Hillcrest aces: Witthoft 6; Elam, Boshart 3; Parizek 2; Miller, Schrock 1

WACO kills: Carlee Lunsford 12; Taelyn Egli 6; Courtney Waterhouse, Kaylan Willits 3; Layla Wolf 2

WACO assists: Ava Wagler 23; Mei Leichty 1

WACO digs: Lunsford 12; Wagler 10; Egli, Trinity Dean 5; Leichty 3; Waterhouse 2; Willits, Wolf 1;

WACO blocks: Waterhouse, Lunsford, Egli, Willits 1;

WACO aces: Wagler 6; Lunsford, Egli, Ada Davison 1;