2B Volleyball: Mossyrock Falls to Colfax in State Championship Match

YAKIMA — For the second straight year, the Mossyrock Vikings volleyball team finished second in the State 2B Volleyball Tournament, losing 3-2 to Colfax in the championship match at the SunDome on Friday.

“I think we showed a lot of mental toughness all tournament long. We struggled with being consistent, we went five (sets) in the first round, but how they fought tonight, I couldn't be more proud,” Mossyrock coach Alex Nelson said. “These girls just went and played with one of the best teams for a very long time in the state for 2B and they didn’t stop fighting.”

The final score doesn’t tell the entire story of Mossyrock’s comeback, as the Bulldogs came out strong in the first set and won 25-20, and earned the second set 25-19 for a 2-0 lead. But the Vikings refused to go quietly and started to rally back into the match.

“We came back in the hardest way possible. They got up on us two sets and then we just believed in ourselves and fought back in and if we would have pulled it off, it would have been in the hardest way possible and we stayed in it,” Nelson said. “We had some leads in that last set. We just had a momentum change that didn’t go our way but I’m very proud of the girls.”

Mossyrock escaped the sweep with a 27-25 third set win, and kept the momentum going with a 25-17 fourth set victory, forcing the match to a decisive fifth set.

It was a close fifth set, with Colfax eventually pulling away and holding off the Vikings to earn the 15-11 win.

“We asked that they played with some of the magic they had last year because we hadn’t seen it yet and they did. I think in this one, we saw the magic, the magic of state that comes when you get here and couldn’t be more proud,” Nelson said. “Just great effort on all girls’ parts. Just great support from the bench. A coach that’s so veteran (Sue Doering) that everyone knows her. I’m glad to see that she could go out with a championship, I hate that it was against me.”

Colfax has won the state 2B championship in four of the last five years, with the exception being Kalama’s championship last year when the Vikings finishing second.

Coach Nelson had the special opportunity to coach both her daughters, Ava and Andee, the last two seasons.

“Definitely special, there are hard things to that too. It’s very hard because it’s hard to see me as just coach and not mom and to separate those things, which unlike most kids don’t have to do that. That makes it difficult but well worth it when you get to be in an opportunity like this and both of them participating together,” Nelson said. “Not always do two sisters get to play and the one is very hard on the younger one (Andee), but I think she sees that propels her to be much better. I have sisters to and never got a chance to play with them. It’s a special thing, special bond between sisters.”

Mossyrock volleyball sends off a great group of seniors including Stephanie Fried, Paige Moorcroft, Lainee Grose, Jamie Carlson and Ava Nelson. Coach Nelson knows the senior class has laid the foundation for future Viking volleyball teams to try to keep the Mossyrock magic going.

“I see little girls here from Mossyrock and you get the fever when they’re young. They see the magic, what we call the magic at state, and they want to be a part of it. That’s how you get girls committed,” Nelson said. “They see a group of girls like this who have shown commitment. They don’t see how much commitment, but you don’t get to this level without it. They’re two years, back-to-back second is an accomplishment and lots of people would love to have had that opportunity. It’s bittersweet, but very proud of this group. I think they definitely have started a tradition in Mossyrock.”

Mossyrock Takes Down Northwest Christian in Semifinals

YAKIMA — Mossyrock punched their ticket to the championship match with a 3-1 win over Northwest Christian (Colbert) in a State 2B Volleyball tournament semifinal match here on Friday.

The Vikings won the first set 25-19, but dropped the second set 25-19. The Vikings found their form once again in the third set and won 25-18, and carried that momentum to close out the match in the fourth set, 25-14.