2B Volleyball: Rainier Edges Winlock in Five-Set Thriller

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DOWN TO THE WIRE: The Mountaineers Picked Up Their Second-Straight Win With Road Victory Over Cardinals

Just one night after Rainier nabbed its first win of the season, the Mountaineers kept the momentum churning in an intensity-fueled, five-set road victory (25-21, 26-24, 26-24, 18-25, 15-13) over Winlock Tuesday.

“It was nice to see the girls smile,” Rainier coach Shauna Carpenter said. “To see the girls put into place the things you taught them and win two games back to back, it’s huge.”

Victoria Wadsworth led the attack for the Mountaineers with a team-high 12 kills, while freshman Haleigh Hanson tallied 11. Setter Amanda Knutz set 99 sets and only had four errors on the night.

For Winlock, which drops to 0-5 on the season, it wasn’t ideal to lose on Senior Night, but coach Chastity Pennington said she couldn’t be more happy with how her team battled.

“The last rally was really the endless rally,” Pennington said. “It just kept going. It’s disappointing being Senior Night, but the girls had to walk out of there feeling proud.”

Cardinals’ senior Karlie Jones was on fire, tallying a team-high 19 kills on the night. Freshman Raegan Lester had 22 successful serves and junior Addison Hall had eight kills.

“Things are clicking,” Chastity said. “It’s pretty awesome to see things take effect. They really came together as a team. The communication was there. I’m very proud of them. I’m super excited. Our future is looking brighter and brighter.”

Winlock travels to Onalaska on Thursday, while Rainier hosts Wahkiakum on Thursday. The Mules lost in four sets to Adna on Tuesday.

Adna Topples Wahkiakum on the Road

One night after taking its first loss of the season, a sweep by Kalama, Adna rebounded for a huge league win over a tough Wahkiakum team (26-24, 19-25, 27-25, 25-17) in Cathlamet Tuesday.

“I am really proud of the girls for pushing through after the loss in the second game,” Adna coach Wendie Dotson said. “The games were pretty tight at times. It has been a long time since we have won a match at Wahkiakum and it was a good win. It was good to see the girls bounce back after our loss against Kalama yesterday. We will just keep focusing on improving every day.”

Maddie Kleemeyer was 30-for-33 from the service line with six aces. She served 14-straight points in the fourth game to help give the Pirates a comfortable lead.

Ali Davis served 100% from the service line, while contributing 21 digs for the match. Paige Wagner served 100% and was also solid on the service line. Emma Eko notched up 18 digs on the night, and Elisha Geise put a few balls away from the front row in the fourth set.



“It was a good atmosphere in the gym and it feels good to walk away from Wahkiakum with a win,” Dotson said. “They are well coached and Jansi Merz is a really good hitter. They also cover the court well, which makes it difficult to get a high number of kills against their team.”

Adna improves to 4-1 on the season and hosts Toutle Lake on Thursday.

Napavine Swept by Chinooks

A night after sweeping Onalaska, the Tigers couldn’t get things going against a tough Kalama squad, falling in straight sets (25-17, 25-13, 25-17) on the road Tuesday.

“We just didn’t play that great,” Napavine coach Monica Dailey said. “We had a hard time getting an offense going. They’ve got some great hitters.”

Napavine was led by Haily Murray’s team-high 10 kills and Rae Sisson’s team-high 10 assists. Sisson, Vannie Fagerness and Jessica Lee all served 100% on the night.

“Kalama is a relaly good team but they’re beatable,” Dailey said. “We didn’t play our game. I don’t think we played to our potential. It was a learning experience.”

The Tigers fall to 3-2 overall and host Toledo at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Timberwolves Get First Win

Morton-White Pass snatched its first win of the season, a five-set victory (20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 17-25, 17-15) over Stevenson on the road Tuesday.

Senior Katie Salguero dominated at the net, registering a team-high 14 kills and five blocks. Sophomore Chloe Kelly added 17 assists, four kills and two blocks.

“It was nice to travel all the way down there and get a win,” Morton-White Pass coach Tammy Kelly said.

The Timberwolves improve to 1-3 on the season and host Kalama at 7 p.m. Thursday in White Pass.