It’s a rebuilding year for the Hillcrest volleyball program, but the Ravens could be competitive in the SEISC North sooner than anyone may have thought. 

The Raven freshmen and sophomores took three sets in the Keota volleyball tournament on Monday and earned their first win of the season — 25-15, 25-20 over Lone Tree in the fifth-place match. 

The Ravens had won just three of their last 57 games when the 2021 season began with seven straight losses. But led by five seniors, Hillcrest would finish with a record of 10-22. 

The Ravens return just two players from that rotation of eight — Malia Yoder and Kylee Statler, now sophomores. 

Some new faces stepped up for coach Brandon Statler on Monday. 

Freshman Niva Helmuth led the Ravens with 15 kills. She also had a block, five aces and 10 digs. 

“Lydia (Beachy) and Erin (Bontrager) were both great,” Statler said about the sophomores. “It’s their first time playing varsity ball and I thought they did real well in coverage.”

Freshman Claire Withrow had a team-high 26 assists and 11 kills. 

“She’s new to the group,” Statler said. “My girls have played (against) her in club volleyball for years. We know that she can do it and in the second half of the night, she really started to play with more confidence.” 

Kylee Statler had a team-high nine aces, plus eight kills and a block. Yoder finished with 12 kills, 23 assists, and 13 digs. 

“We just used the momentum and kept pushing,” Yoder said. “It was great to get back and play volleyball, and especially to finish it with a win.”

The Ravens were swept 25-13, 25-18 by English Valleys, who won both games in Pool B. Hillcrest dropped the first set 25-10 to Highland and fell behind 4-0 in the second before making a comeback. The Ravens tied it at 12 and went up 20-14 on the way to a 25-18 win.

“They came out and first set and they hit it,” Statler said. “We scrimmaged them twice, we know they hit. In the second set, we were finally able to push them back a little bit and get them off balance, get their first pass off, and then it was a little more even. We won the set and we could have won the third one doing the same thing.”

The Ravens took that energy into the final game against Lone Tree. Statler said that as the excitement built, his team lost focus and played a little out of control at times.

“In the second set, we got down and battled back and started doing what we know we can do,” he said. “I told them, we’re a young team. Nothing is going to be free, nothing’s going to be easy. And we’ve got to focus — every play, all year long. Every serve, every attack, every ball to the center. It’s going to be a battle for this young group.”