ADNA — For the second straight season, the Adna Pirates have made it through the regular season unscathed.
“It’s nice,” Adna coach Wendie Dotson said. “Our league is a tough league … We just play our game and focus on what we do.”
The Pirates did that well on Wednesday, as they swept Onalaska, 25-15, 25-13, 25-13, to improve to 16-0 and finish league play a perfect 8-0. They have not lost a regular season game since 2022.
Adna was in control against Onalaska for most of the night, building big leads in each set and finishing each one off strong.
Dotson said that the Pirates had a strong practice yesterday, and she was happy to see that enthusiasm carry over.
“We wanted to bring that energy on the court,” Dotson said.
As the No. 1 seed from the C2BL, Wednesday won’t end up being the final time the Adna seniors take the court, but as the final regular season game, it was their senior night.
Gaby Guard, Karsyn Freeman, Danika Hallom, Jaylee Humphrey, Kendall Humphrey, and Ava Simms all gathered for pictures after the game, and Dotson described her admiration while looking on.
“They are an exceptional group of young ladies on and off the court,” Dotson said. “They embody everything that a team means. They are special kids.”
All of the seniors played a role in the win. Hallom finished with nine digs, eight kills, four aces and two assists, while Kendall Humphrey added 10 kills and eight digs.
Guard piled up 29 assists, 10 digs, and five aces, and Jaylee Humphrey finished with eight digs. Freeman finished with a team-high 20 kills and 12 digs, and she also added five aces.
“They have amazing chemistry and celebrate each other's successes,” Dotson continued. “A group like this comes around once in a lifetime if you’re lucky.”
On the other bench, the Loggers got a boost with the return of Sommer Hammer, and at times they held their own in a tough environment.
Emalie Jacoby led the way with 17 digs and 13 kills, while Braelyn Babb had 10 assists and two digs. Anna Johnston also had a pair of blocks.
“I think we played really hard at times,” Onalaska coach Susan Gordon said. “We just still have that tendency to kind of freeze up … But that will come with age. They’ve already grown a lot in that area this year.”
The Loggers finish the regular season 12-5 and 5-3 in league play. They’ll enter the district tournament as the No. 4 seed from the C2BL, setting up a pigtail matchup against the winner of Toledo and Chief Leschi’s pigtail. Both of those games are at Adna on Saturday, as is the following quarterfinal.
“We have to continue to push,” Gordon said. “I don’t care who’s across the net. We will play every ball as hard as we can … Anything can happen, and we need to come in with energy and be ready to do it.”
Adna, on the other hand, will enter as the Central’s No. 1 seed, and it will look to repeat as district champions. They will play the winner of Onalaska’s pigtail in a district quarterfinal on Saturday at Adna.
“We just don’t want to look past anybody,” Dotson said. “Anybody is beatable.”
If the Pirates can repeat as champions, they’ll head to the state tournament unbeaten for the second year in a row.
