Centralia tops Black Hills to move into fourth place

Despite starting league play 0-5, the Centralia Tigers have put themselves in playoff position after defeating Black Hills in four 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20 on Tuesday night.

“They rose to the challenge,” Centralia coach Marti Smith said. “I really feel like these last few games that we’ve played, we’ve just been slowly getting better, playing together, and keeping our energy consistent.”

That last point is one of the things Smith was most proud of Tuesday. Even though the Tigers went down in the third set 10-2, they rallied back to get to 15-10. Though Black Hills was able to close out the set, Smith was happy to see the Tigers keep their energy up.

“How we finished that third set, we carried that momentum into the fourth set,” Smith said. “It was just a really exciting night for us.”

Hollynn Wakefield was 14 for 15 from the service line and added 13 digs and five kills, while Makenzie Erickson also had 13 digs and was perfect from the line.

McKenna Smith missed just one of 17 serves while adding 10 digs, seven kills, four blocks, and three aces, and Brooklyn Sprague also hit double digits with 10 digs.

Mikaela Marazita was perfect serving, had four blocks at the net, and had three kills, and Payton Baumel added seven blocks and four kills.

Now at 2-6 in league play, Centralia (4-9) is a half-game up on W.F. West for the EvCo’s fourth and final playoff spot. The Tigers and Bobcats will meet for the second time this season on Thursday, and the Tigers will be looking to avenge their five-set loss from two weeks back.

The winner won’t clinch a playoff spot, but the team that gets the victory will have the upper hand.

“We’re starting to do all the right things,” Smith said. “I’m very excited for Thursday … If we show up like we can, that definitely puts us in the right spot.”