There was no sense of normal routine for the Centralia volleyball team Tuesday, which followed a day off from school with a long bus ride northwest. And while the weirdness had its effect on the Tigers, they found their groove with time to spare for a 17-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-10 win at Shelton.
“I would say we were still on the bus during the first set,” Centralia coach Marti Smith said. “On a gameday like that, it kind of threw them off their routine. Once we pulled that second set off, it was like the air cleared and everybody relaxed.”
Specifically, the Tigers (7-4, 5-4 2A EvCo) found their form at the service line, and once that got going, the Highclimbers never had a chance. As comparatively easy as the third set went, the fourth started off close, before Gracie Schofield took over at the line and led Centralia to 12 straight points to give the guests a 20-9 lead.
“That really kicked off the run for us,” Smith said.
As a group, Schofield, McKenna Smith, Heaven Jacobson, Makayla Chavez and Selah Calkins combined to only miss four serves, and put down 11 aces.
“Our serving just caught on fire,” Marti Smith said. “We were finally getting them out of system, which got our offense a lot of free balls.”
Lauren Wasson took advantage of those free balls to the tune of 17 kills, while Chavez added 11. Smith and Calkins combined to dish out 39 assists.
On defense, Schofield came up with 23 digs, while Jacobson had 15 and Wasson had 13.
And after winning the latter two sets by a combined 24 points, the Tigers came back home with their second straight win.
“Every time we go to Shelton, something’s always kind of flukey there,” Marti Smith said. “But they figured it out, thank goodness. It wasn’t the prettiest, but we got the win.”
Centralia head south for a Battle of the Swamp on Tuesday, facing W.F. West for the second time this season. The Tigers swept the Bearcats at home in the first matchup.
