ELYRIA — The Raiders are rolling.

Columbia’s volleyball team advanced to the Division III Elyria district semifinals by defeating Wellington in four games Wednesday night, 25-23, 18-25, 27-25, 25-23.

The fourth-seeded Raiders (18-7) will meet top-seeded Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Tuesday in a rematch of last year’s district semi, which was won by VASJ.

“This is the same way it went last year,” Columbia coach Wendy Owens said. “We played Wellington in the sectional finals and then faced VASJ in the district.

“We knew coming in that Wellington has a disciplined team and we would have to play as consistent as possible, which we didn’t do before. We played them once and we beat them in three games.”

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Kelsey Dombrowski, Alayna Shawver and Emily Nagle provided strong defense at the net for the Raiders, while Emma Sullivan was all over the floor, diving for digs and saving points many times.

Dombrowski had 19 kills, Nagle was 101-of-102 setting with 48 assists and Sullivan had 24 digs. Courtney Traut added 15 blocks and three block kills.

Wellington came out in the first game and started as if it was going to be its night as they jumped out to a 20-14 lead before Columbia started putting things together. With Emma Sullivan serving, the Raiders pulled within 22-18. Wellington was unable to close the door on the Raiders and Emily Nagle’s serving helped Columbia tied the game at 22. Wellington scored once more, but it was not enough as Columbia’s Brooke Wenzel hit the winner to give the Raiders the 25-23 win.

Game 2 was the comeback for Wellington as Megan Auble’s ace finished off the game and gave the Dukes a second wind.

“From a fan’s stand point this had to be an enjoyable match to watch,” Wellington Coach Marsha Coultrip said. “Give Columbia credit. They played excellent floor defense. I thought our kids came out and executed our game plan that we had been practicing to the best of their ability. We ran into some problems with them dumping the ball into the soft spots of our defense, but overall I was extremely proud of the way our kids played.”

Game 3 was a see-saw battle with neither team gaining the advantage until the Raiders ran off two straight points with the score tied at 25-25 to pull out the win.

Game 4 was more of the same, with Wellington not letting Columbia get away until the end as a hitting error cost the Dukes the match.

Melissa Rennie, Katie Stumphauser and Auble led the offense for Wellington. They also led the team in digs. Rachel Cook (31) and Hillary Markel (22) were the assist leaders.

Contact Ron Nenadal at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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