Tuesday's Prep Volleyball: Pirates Persevere in Marathon Match

ADNA — Anyone who purchased a ticket to see the Pirates and Tigers tango in a Central 2B League volleyball tilt here on Tuesday night likely got more than they bargained for in return for the price of admission. In an unrelenting five set affair, it was Adna that wound up waging a successful defense of their home court with set scores of 25-22, 30-32, 20-25, 25-23, and 15-12

“I wish we wouldn’t give people their monies worth,” joked Adna coach Wendie Dotson as she looked back on a match that could have easily tipped in the Tigers’ favor.

The Pirates shoved off in the right direction from the get-go with a three point victory in the first set. That game set the tone for the rest of the evening as no team ever held a lead of more than three points throughout. Halfway through the teams exchanged lengthy volleys to remember before Dotson called a timeout with her team trailing 13-16. After that gathering the Pirates won a hotly contested tipped ball call and used that momentum to capture a 19-16 lead all while Ali Davis was toeing the service stripe. Even then Napavine was able to rebound for a 20-19 lead, with ties at 19, 21, and 22, before Adna put the game away for good with three straight points.

Dotson noted that her team seemed to draw on their experience playing Napavine earlier this year in order to withstand the Tigers’ persistent attacks.

“I think the first time, we were very emotional about the game. So when they would rattle off a couple points we would dig ourselves a hole and we couldn’t believe that we could pick it back up,” explained Dotson.

That newfound resilience was put to the test in an everlasting second set that included 19 ties before the Tigers claimed the 32-30 victory. Sure enough, the Pirates fell again in the third set as Napavine posted the most lopsided score of the night with a five-point victory.

Haily Murray led Napavine with 20 kills and 20 digs to go along with a perfect night serving. Jordan Wilson added 22 assists while Vannie Fagerneess chipped in 20 digs and Sydney Purvis tallied 16 digs.

“I felt like Napavine did a really good job of passing. They were pretty accurate,” said Dotson. “And Haily hit really, really well. We’d try to block her and she’d go around our block and hit it a different direction. That’s kind of scary when you have a really dominant player like that because they’ll set her up in the back row and she’s still effective.”

Looking back on the night’s action, Dotson was impressed that her players found a way to right the ship after back-to-back taxing losses.

“It’s tough to bounce back after a loss like that but this team is very supportive of each other. They get along pretty well so I think that has helped,” noted Dotson. “They don’t get irritated. They are hard on themselves so we try to take away from that by saying ‘Go give me something good to make up for that bad thing.’”

That proactive approach paid dividends down the stretch for the Pirates as they cobbled together a two-point victory in the fourth set to force a fifth and final game. Of course, that deciding set was close just like all the rest with five ties along the way. However, the Tigers were never able to stake out a lead and a hand injury to Wilson halfway through seemed to spell the end for the visitors.

Anna Jones found herself in the middle of the Adna offense all night as she led the team in passing and held serve on 15 of the Pirates’ total points. Maddie Kleemeyer added three aces to the Adna attack and held serve for 17 points. Ali Davis also tallied three aces while holding serve for six total points while Madison Fay turned in four blocks.

Dotson said that there were intangibles at play that helped push her team over the top in such a close contest.

“I think at different times you have different people in their position and their role who will step up and be a leader,” Dotoson explained. “I know Emma Eko she just talks non-stop and then Anna Jones as the libero she talks too. But they all step into that role and I thought that they all did well for us at one time or another.”

In the immediate aftermath of the heartburn-inducing loss, Napavine coach Monica Dailey was not ready to search for silver linings just yet. She blamed spotty turnout for some of her team’s inconsistencies, noting that at one point during the past week she had only five players ready to go at practice.

“Vannie (Fagerness) and Haily (Murray) and Sydney (Purvis), they are there every day. Haily and Sydney are sick right now. My setter (Wilson) is sick. She just got hurt again tonight. One of my other setters is out because of her knee so we had to run a 5-1 and we haven’t even practiced a 5-1,” said Dailey. “We’re going to get over the hurdle, it’s just unfortunate that it’s come down and cost us a league match.”

While her own team left her chomping at the bit to get back to the practice court, Dailey did come away with a fresh respect for the Pirates.

“Kudos to Adna. They came ready to play tonight. I mean, they passed everything. They served well. They passed well. They hit well. They had the whole thing going tonight and we just weren’t ready.”

Napavine (5-1, 1-1 league) will be back at it on Thursday when they host Toledo. Adna (2-4, 1-1 league) will host Onalaska next Tuesday.

Oakville Falls to Lake Quinault

OAKVILLE — The Acorns couldn’t get much offense going against Lake Quinault in a 3-0 loss with set scores of 25-9, 25-13 and 25-5 in a 1B Coastal Division volleyball match.

Oakville (0-4, 0-2) hits the road to take on Wishkah Valley on Thursday in Aberdeen.

Tumwater Sweeps W.F. West

TUMWATER — The Thunderbirds made quick work of the Bearcats in a 3-0 sweep of an Evergreen 2A Conference volleyball match on Tuesday.

Tumwater won with set scores of 25-12, 25-18 and 25-17. W.F. West’s Ashlyn Whalen had two aces and five kills and Paytton Crawford recorded 12 assists.

“I thought our defense was really good. Our blocks looked delayed,” W.F. West coach Emily Mora said. “When we play Tumwater, they have very effective hitters and they’re going to take advantage of us not having our blocks where they need to be.”

W.F. West (0-5, 0-1) hosts Aberdeen on Thursday in an EvCo contest.

Toledo Takes Down Winlock

WINLOCK — The Cardinals won the first set but Toledo won the next three sets to earn a 3-1 win in a Central 2B League volleyball match here on Tuesday.

Winlock won the first set, 25-18. Toledo bounced back to win the next three sets with scores of 25-18, 25-10 and 26-24.

Toledo’s Rylie Pliler had nine kills and nine aces and Emma Cline-Maier added eight kills. Stacie Spahr chipped in seven kills and Brynn Williams contributed six aces and nine digs.

Toledo (6-0, 2-0) travels to Napavine on Thursday while Winlock (2-6, 0-2) hits the road to face Onalaska on Thursday in a C2BL contest.

Eagles Soar Past Beavers

ELMA — Tenino had a tough match to open 1A Evergreen League play, falling to Elma 3-0 here on Tuesday.

The Eagles won with set scores of 25-3, 25-13 and 25-4.

“It was a tough one. We’re a pretty young team this year, I don’t feel like the score showed how well we played,” Tenino coach Kirsten Gofinch said. “It was a good game, a lot of hustle. We didn’t give up a ton of aces, they have some great hitters.”

Gofinch highlighted the play of Austin Johnson at libero for moving her feet and playing hard. She also noted Jayden Benton’s serving, especially in the second set.

“I’m really proud of how hard they’re working,” Gofinch said. “We’ve had some tough outings.”

Tenino (0-5, 0-1) hosts Forks on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in a league match.

Tigers Sweep Bobcats

Centralia needed the minimum amount of sets to dispatch Aberdeen in a 3-0 win in an Evergreen 2A Conference volleyball match in Centralia on Tuesday.

The Tigers won with set scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-11.

Centralia’s Madison Stoeckler served 10-of-11 with 18 assists and Jadyn Hawley served 16-of-17 with seven kills and 13 digs. Kylie Sharp tallied nine digs and served 13-of-19 and Kennedy Strophy served 14-of-15 with four aces, six kills and six digs.

Centralia coach Marti Smith was pleased with her team carrying the momentum from their win against Hoquiam last week into tonight’s game. She also highlighted the serving run by Sharp in the second set, serving nine straight points to tie the match at 13 to help the Tigers win the second set.

“They played well, just a great way to start league play. Overall, we did a lot of nice things out there tonight. Our serving was under control, serving dictated the game for us,” Smith said. “It would have been so easy to just lay down in that second set but we picked up the momentum. They knew they needed to bring more energy. It seems like from each set we play, we’re learning as we’re going. It’s nice to see them making changes on their own, I’m really proud of them tonight.”

Centralia (2-3, 1-0) travels to Black Hills on Thursday for a league contest.

Ilwaco Drops Pe Ell

ILWACO — The Fishermen earned a sweep of Pe Ell with set scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-19 in a non-league volleyball match here on Tuesday.

Pe Ell coach Karie Cleveland highlighted the serving of Presley Peterson and Taylor Briggs against Ilwaco.

“As a team, we actually did pretty well passing. We’re missing a few of our starters, had one just comeback from injury,” Cleveland said. “We’re trying a bunch of different lineups. We’re focusing on some fundamental volleyball and I feel like they’re doing it pretty well.”

Pe Ell (1-4) travels to Raymond on Thursday for the first Pacific 2B League game of the season.

Onalaska Outlasts Rainier

RAINIER — Onalaska and Rainier matched up in a five-set battle, with the Loggers prevailing 3-2 in a Central 2B League volleyball game here on Tuesday.

Rainier won the first set, 25-15. Onalaska bounced back with a 25-23 second set win and took the lead with a 25-21 third set victory. The Mountaineers tied the match with a 25-18 fourth set win. The Loggers were able to prevail in the fifth set, 15-8.

Onalaska’s Eryn Duryea had 19 kills, 49 defensive passes and served 14-of-16 and Carmen Cleveland-Barrera tallied nine kills, including five block kills. Dakotah Fuller had eight kills, including four block kills and Morgan Hamilton recorded nine kills.

Sophia Leal had 42 defensive passes and served 17-of-18 and Keiley Fickett served 12-of-13. Raelee Holmes served 11-of-12 with 11 assists and Kayla Osborne chipped in 16 assists for the Loggers.

“We played pretty good in the first game. We started out a little bit slow but the second game, we started getting some momentum. That rolled us into a different mindset for the rest of the night,” Onalaska coach Terri Dalsted said.

Onalaska (2-3, 1-1) hosts Winlock on Thursday while Rainier (4-3, 0-2) travels to Randle to take on Morton-White pass on Thursday in a C2BL game.

Mossyrock Comes From Behind to Defeat Toutle Lake

MOSSYROCK — Mossyrock lost the first two sets but dug deep and came from behind to earn a 3-2 win against Toutle Lake in a Central 2B League volleyball match here on Tuesday.

The Ducks won the first two sets by a score of 25-23. Mossyrock battled back and won the third set 25-19 and dominated the fourth set, 25-9. The Vikings carried that momentum to a 15-11 fifth set win.

Payton Torrey served 100 percent with 34 digs and 16 kills. Faith Mulligan had 37 digs and 24 perfect passes from the libero position.

Andee Nelson served 12-of-14 with two aces, 34 digs and 34 kills and Hailey Brooks served 18-of-20 with seven kills and 21 digs. Morgan Houghtelling recorded 56 assists for the Vikings.

“We had a slower start again, we’ve been struggling with that. We were making too many service errors and just not putting it altogether,” Mossyrock coach Alex Nelson said. “The third set was a hard fight. Set four, we had a clear victory and had great confidence going into that last set after that fourth set. It was just a big night for us to come together and play as a team. We communicated well, Faith (Mulligan) led us in defense. That was huge for us to have a defender in the back row. I’m really proud of the girls.”

Mossyrock (4-1, 2-0) travels to Kalama on Thursday for a C2BL match.

Mules Knock Down Timberwolves

CATHLAMET — Morton-White Pass was no match for Wahkiakum here on Tuesday as the Mules won with set scores of 25-13, 26-24 and 25-16 in a Central 2B League volleyball match.

MWP’s Shaylee Peters had seven kills and served 100 percent and Katie Salguero added four kills and two blocks. Chloe Kelly tallied 11 assists and Emarey Hampton and Rylie Dantinne each served 100 percent.

“We played a little more consistent and passed better in serve receive,” MWP Tammy Kelly said. “Our hitters weren’t finishing like we needed to.”

MWP (0-5, 0-2) hosts Rainier in Randle on Thursday in a league match.