ONALASKA — With Onalaska leading Rainier 2-1, the Loggers found themselves in a familiar scenario late in the fourth set against the Mountaineers in the Central 2B League opener Thursday night.
The Mountaineers snatched momentum midway through the fourth after trailing big early and led 24-19, just a point away from sending the back-and-forth match into a decisive fifth set. In a scenario like this in each of the first two years under head coach Susan Gordon, the Loggers would have correctly assumed that a fifth set was on the way.
But when junior Emalie Jacoby stepped up to the front row, Gordon knew the game was over.
Jacoby took control, fueling the Loggers’ 7-0 run to finish the fourth set and complete the 3-1 victory over Rainier. She collected three of her team-high 23 kills in that run, including the final two points.
“This is the one thing that we’ve always struggled with,” Gordon said of trailing late in the fourth. “We have just decided that we’re sick of that. We’re pushing over the top. This was the first time that we did it, and hopefully that continues.”
Jacoby did it all with a right elbow injury that she’s been battling since mid-summer, but not one person in the gym would have had any inkling that her hyperextended elbow was bothering her. Most of the time it doesn’t; her adrenaline and her will to win takes over, and Rainier was no match late in the fourth.
“We were talking about how we have to remember that everybody has to do their part and everybody has to have energy and rely on each other and do everything as a team,” Jacoby said of the team’s message when facing a set point at 24-19.
Onalaska outlasted Rainier 26-24 in the first set, a game that saw seven lead changes and 10 ties. The Mountaineers led by as many as four early thanks to strong attacking and serving from Allyson Ooms and Ellie Pringle, but service errors and attack errors eventually plagued the visiting team.
Early in the second, it was more of the same as both squads couldn’t earn a comfortable lead. That was until Rainier broke a 10-10 tie and proceeded to outscore the Loggers 15-3 to win 25-13 and tie the match. Ooms and Anika Plowman were a force up front, while the Mountaineers capitalized on multiple Onalaska service errors.
Onalaska (7-4, 1-0 Central 2B League) led for nearly all of the third set en route to a 25-20 win. The Loggers jumped all over the Mountaineers early in the fourth, leading 6-1 before Pringle and Ooms led Rainier back via an 8-1 run of its own. Rainier (6-3, 0-1 C2BL) led from 8-7 until Onalaska took a 25-24 lead off a Jacoby kill, and the junior finished the game with another kill.
“I think we were playing a little timid, a little bit afraid to make mistakes. We were going through the motions and not being aggressive,” Rainier head coach Carrie Ooms said.
Jacoby led the way with 23 kills, 30 digs and three blocks, while Braelyn Babb dished out 30 assists. Renzy Marshall and Capri McGraw each had a pair of aces, and Faith Hammer led all Loggers with nine blocks.
Allyson Ooms recorded 18 kills, five blocks and 22 digs for the Mountaineers, while Pringle logged four aces, six kills and five digs. Plowman added seven kills and seven blocks, and Courtney Eckroth dished 14 assists to go with three blocks, three kills and four digs.
In Gordon’s eyes, this victory for Onalaska is a turning point for a program that, two years ago, started four eighth graders and three freshmen. The Loggers core believes their third year together could be special.
“They’ve grown in knowledge, they’ve grown in skill, they’ve grown in their love of the game, and they’re at a point that they’re ready to take control,” Gordon said. “But we have to be able to do this consistently. That’s the next step.”
The next step for the Loggers is a tournament at R.A. Long this weekend that features Hudson’s Bay, La Center, Mossyrock, Toledo, Toutle Lake and Wahkiakum. Rainier’s loss snaps a four-game winning streak, and the Mountaineers will look to bounce back against Adna (2-5) at home Oct. 7.
