Current conditions unavailable
YAKIMA — The Onalaska Loggers are rewriting a volleyball history book the contents of which they likely weren’t yet born to see written.
For the first time since 2007, the Loggers are moving on to the state quarterfinals after a 3-1 win over 10th-seeded Mount Vernon Christian in the 2B State Tournament first round at the Yakima Valley SunDome Wednesday morning 25-14, 23-25, 26-24, 25-18. Onalaska, the seventh seed in the bracket, was energized by junior Emalie Jacoby’s 25 kills and 25 digs.
Head coach Susan Gordon described the Loggers’ previous outings in the district tournament as “flat,” and her squad came out hot with an 8-1 start in the first set en route to a 25-14 opening frame win.
But the lack of energy and the abundance of unforced errors that frustrated Gordon in districts returned in the second set against the Hurricanes. The Loggers struggled to communicate, particularly while attempting to play serves. Jacoby gave Onalaska a chance with a smattering of kills, but Mount Vernon Christian pulled away to knot the match at one set apiece.
“With playing together, we just had a little funky thing going on,” Gordon said of the second set.
Onalaska weeded out its problems after the troublesome second set, leading nearly wire to wire throughout the third and fourth games. The Loggers looked their best in the fourth set, where they got in a rhythm behind excellent passing from Braelyn Babb and blocking up front by Faith Hammer, who recorded 10 kills, and Sommer Hammer, who logged three blocks.
Babb dished out 31 assists, and senior Renzy Marshall put up three aces in the victory.
Onalaska will face second seed Freeman in the quarterfinals Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. If the Loggers win, they will advance to the semifinals to face either Manson or Tonasket on Thursday. It would also give the team its first trophy at state since earning third place in 2004. A loss puts the Loggers in the consolation bracket and facing elimination Thursday.
“We’re going to have to play smart. They’re a big, tall team. We’ve just got to play our game, play as hard as we can, not get frustrated, have fun and play loose,” Gordon said. “Crazy things happen in the state tournament.”
