Columbus volleyball comes full circle in redemption win over Southwest
Columbus senior volleyball standout Lucas Riva visualized the moment in his head countless times over the past year.
The picture of him and his teammates and coaches in a wild celebration on their home court after beating Southwest to clinch a trip to state.
The reality a year ago was much different. And much more painful.
Riva lied on the court agonizing from a brutal ankle injury that knocked him out of last year’s regional final and contributed to the Explorers’ losing a chance to win a regional championship.
Fast forward a year, and Riva helped Columbus flip the script.
He and the Explorers enjoyed their full circle moment of redemption on Friday night when they rallied for a four-set victory over Southwest, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21 in the Region 4-3A final at Columbus.
“Last year I felt like I let down my team and it was in the back of my head every day,” Riva said. “We knew we were going to see them again in this round.”
After splitting two matches during the regular season, a healthy Riva was one of the key contributors who helped Columbus (25-5) make sure it would live up to its lofty expectations this time around.
The Explorers, the top-ranked team overall in the state, advanced to the state final four for the first time since 2012 and will be in the state tournament, which used to be an eight-team format, for the first time since 2016.
Columbus will play Loxahatchee Seminole Ridge in a Class 3A state semifinal on Thursday at either 4 or 7 at Polk State College in Winter Haven. Winter Garden Horizon will face Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley in the other semifinal. The winners will then face off on Saturday, May 16 in the 3A final at 1.
“It feels surreal. It was our plan all season,” Columbus coach Daniel Thews said. “Winning every tournament this season was good, but it doesn’t mean anything if you can’t get to the big dance and we did it. I feel like we deserved to be there last year, but we finally got it done.”
Thews watched his team drop the first set after a strong start by Southwest (23-6), which was led by Alejandro Rodriguez and Fabrizio Villa up front.
The Explorers, however, changed the momentum three different times in the match with pinpoint serving from Riva and freshman Kevin Perez. Columbus opened the second set on an 8-2 run and never trailed. The Explorers trailed 14-9 in the third set before answering with four consecutive points and eventually overtaking at 17-16 thanks to an ace by Riva.
“We kept telling each other we have to keep working and we have to keep going because if not they’d be ahead of us,” Riva said. “You have to do as much as you can as an individual to help your team out. If I miss this serve, it’s ok, my team has got me. You just have to go up there and let her rip.”
Riva and his teammates did just that as Daniel Jimenez and Daniel Rubi also played key roles in the victory.
During an offseason of healing, Riva said he didn’t feel quite like himself on the court until about January and even then, he said he was not jumping like he was accustomed to or as confident until later on.
“I just didn’t have the confidence and still didn’t jump as high as I thought I could,” Riva said. “But I said to myself daily, we already won the state title in my head. That’s a process I visualize daily. In your head you have to see it. Now it’s about keeping our emotions level and keep doing what we’ve been doing all season.”
Riva said Columbus trusts their team’s powerful serving even when mistakes happen because of the potential to make defenses uncomfortable when they are on target.
“We’re ok with missing because we know when it lands we’ll make teams struggle,” Thews said. “We just have to play clean ball and just stay calm and collected.”
