Experience matters.
When Columbia hosted Fairview for a nonconference volleyball game on Aug. 23, the experience gap showed. The Raiders are a veteran group with seven seniors, and they dominated the unseasoned Warriors, 25-13, 25-10, 25-10.
Fairview returns two players from last year. Now only two games into a new era (0-2), the Warriors are learning some things. On the other end, Columbia (1-0) knows exactly what it is. Even in the season opener with some rust, the Raiders’ chemistry stuck out.
"This group has played together for a long time. They've put in a lot of work," Columbia coach Kelsey Geanuracos said. "Regular season, offseason, club seasons, they've worked hard learning how to play as a team. They learned how to play with a lot of different people, and that's helped them jell together. They know each other so well."
There were times that the game was competitive, and all of a sudden looking up at the scoreboard, Columbia had scored four straight points to take command.
After a few Warriors miscues early in the first set, the Raiders went on a 9-1 run. Lorelei Sikorski had two early kills, and she picked up an ace to force a Fairview timeout.
"It made us really excited for the rest of our season just to know that we can come out in the first game and do that," she said.
Everybody got involved as five Raiders tallied kills in the opening set. Setter Megan Simon had a big game, and she was finding her hitters. The middle-hitting duo of Callie Demagall and Bree Heidecker were putting in work early. They combined for four kills in the first set and helped Columbia stretch the lead. Back-to-back aces from Delaney Friscone and a kill by Cameron Baker helped close it out on a 5-0 run.
Fairview has the same amount of seniors and freshmen on the varsity this season, with two each. Growing pains are to be expected with this group, and the Warriors found out the hard way against an experienced Columbia squad.
The Warriors are young, but there's talent there. Freshman Brooke Schmidt was easily the tallest player on the court at 6-foot, and she had a good performance with a game-high seven kills. She started off the second set with a kill to put Fairview in front. But Columbia quickly built up another big lead. There's hope that lessons like these games will help the team in the future.
"We just try to remind them that this is how you grow, this is how we improve by meeting teams like Columbia," Fairview coach Maggi Szczepaniak said. "They were tough, they have a solid team in place. Every one of them is a talented athlete out on the court. We're probably going to see some tough losses, but I told them that as long as we learn and improve in the next game, that's all I care about as a coach."
Whether it was hitting or serving, the Raiders did both aggressively. The team totaled 14 aces, including four each from Friscone and Demagall. Simon also had an ace, and a Demagall kill capped off a 9-2 run.
"We talk a lot about being a really smart team, and smart doesn't equal safe," Geanuracos said. "You've got to play aggressively, you have to be okay with being dangerous every once in a while. That's something that we go out there and do."
For good measure, the Raiders scored nine of the second set's final 10 points to go up 2-0. Simon got involved attacking, too, with another kill.
Columbia had another run in the third set, but it didn't wait. Taking a 10-2 lead to start the set, the Raiders were well on their way to a sweep. Both Baker and Heidecker were in front of the net for the game-ending block.
FINAL: Columbia 3, Fairview 0
The Raiders looked good in the season opener! Both Cameron Baker and Bree Heidecker were there for the game-clinching block@MJournalSports @ColumbiaAth @FPWarriorSports pic.twitter.com/91tCHXMJoG
— Travis Nelson (@travisnelson40) August 23, 2023
Baker led Columbia with six kills, while Demagall had five and Sikorski and Simon both had four. Friscone also tallied a team-high seven digs.
“I think it’s so exciting, it felt like such a long wait for the first game to happen,” Simon said. "I’m just so happy to be here now, I’m excited for it to go far."
The Raiders are back in action at 10 a.m. on Aug. 26 hosting Lutheran West. Fairview is back at it at 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 on the road for a GLC contest with Elyria Catholic.
The score
Columbia 3, Fairview 0
