NAPAVINE — In the span of four months, the Onalaska volleyball team went from a group of JV-aged girls who didn’t know how to rotate to a squad that could go toe-to-toe with the two-time defending district champs.
Wednesday, the Loggers’ season came to an end in Napavine, in a 25-22, 25-17, 25-15 loss to Kalama in a loser-out match at the 2B District 4 tournament. But if nothing else, the fact that such a result can be considered a disappointment shows just how far they came.
“We’re just too young,” coach Susan Gordon said. “Panic set in. But to watch these girls from the beginning until now, they’ve been phenomenal.”
For the second straight match in in the district tournament, the Loggers came out firing, leading nearly the entirety of the first set before Kalama ended on a 12-6 run to take it by three points.
From there, Onalaska began to falter, and while it was able to grind out enough points to keep the second set close, it didn’t come close to controlling things the way it had early.
“We had that really great first set, and then one or two eighth graders made a couple of mistakes, and they just couldn’t get it out of their head,” Gordon said. “Tonight, it was our defense that kind of got stuck; against Rainier it was our front row.”
Freshman Emalie Jacoby --- recently named first-team all-C2BL --- led the Loggers with 11 kills and 10 digs, and also posted six assists, while fellow freshman Braelyn Babb had nine assists and three aces.
Eighth grade libero Capri McGraw had nine digs and eighth grade middles Leah Hamilton and Karsyn Koenig had three kills and three blocks, respectively.
Halle Henrickson, the lone senior and one of just two upperclassmen on the Ony roster, had three aces in her final match in purple.
The Loggers end the season with an 8-11 record after going winless in 2022, and are set to bring every single starter back next season --- and the two seasons after that.
“It puts a fire in them,” Gordon said. “They know were they want to be next year. They’re not satisfied being the young team that made it to Districts. They want to be the young team that goes to the state tournament. They’re not satisfied with this at all, and as a coach I’m not satisfied.”
