ADNA — Four times last year and once this fall. And Wednesday night will mark the sixth meeting within 500 days.
Adna High School versus Rainier High School. A rivalry that routinely takes place with 12 total players separated by a white horizontal net.
No secrets and no surprises yet plenty of fireworks happen from the first serve to the last.
“We’re both real strong teams,” Mountaineers head coach Carrie Ooms said. “We look forward to playing them just because they compete with us, they challenge us to push ourselves. We have to play a little smarter.”
Two of the top volleyball programs in Class 2B will meet on the court again in the District 4 tournament semifinals as third-seeded Rainier out of the C2BL overcame some early struggles to sweep second-seeded Raymond/South Bend from the P2BL 25-12, 25-14, 25-14 on Saturday afternoon in a quarterfinal contest.
In an all-C2BL quarterfinal, top-seeded Adna fended off upset-minded and fourth-seeded Onalaska 25-17, 27-25, 25-22 at Adna High School.
The Pirates and Mountaineers will each make the trek to Raymond High School for their semifinal clash. The opposite side of the bracket is Mossyrock facing P2BL regular season champion Forks.
“Play the role, be disciplined at what we’re doing every single time, play for every single point,” Adna head coach Wendie Dotson said. “When we are energized, we do amazing things.”
Adna won both regular season meetings last season plus the semifinal bout in a clean sweep. Rainier served up revenge at the state tournament in Yakima, triumphing in five sets.
Since that setback, the Pirates (17-0) have won 19 straight matches. They lost only three sets throughout October.
“It is good for us to face that adversity,” senior Kendall Humphrey said. “We’re all close with each other and know how we react.”
It took every ounce of energy to squeak by the Loggers, who will play in a loser-out game on Wednesday at South Bend against RSB. The two teams closed the regular season against each other on Wednesday.
This contest was much closer.
Up 24-21, Onalaska erased three set points and garnered a set point of its own to lead the second set 25-24. Adna scored the final three points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
It was a back and forth third set, neither side breaking by more than four points. Humphrey delivered a solo block in the set that ignited some life into the gym, then the Pirates scored the final four points to prevail.
“They kept their cool and even when we’re behind, just push the points,” Dotson said. “We weren’t trying to look past them. We just have to play our game, do our due diligence.”
Danika Hallom fueled a balanced front row attack with 17 kills while Karsyn Freeman chipped in 15 and Humphrey added 11. Dotson spoke glowingly of Hallom afterwards on her versatility on the court.
The senior also led Adna with 14 digs.
“She can go from outside to middle to running the slide,” Dotson said. “She has a lot of options in her toolbox. She has hit hard all season, she looks for options and different ways to trip up their blockers.”
Gaby Guard dished out 42 assists while libero Jaylee Humphrey registered 13 digs for the Pirates. Even with having a perfect mark this late into the season for the second consecutive season, they rarely get complacent.
Which Kendall Humphrey never has to be concerned about.
“We responded by coming together and trying not to get down on ourselves,” she said.
Rainier (15-3) got into its groove after some early mishaps early in each set. The opening and closing sets featured a 5-5 tie and the middle was knotted up at four. The Mountaineers never made the rest of the sets that close the rest of the match.
Only one other instance did the Ravens rally to tie the set.
A kill from Allyson Ooms in the second set spurred the Mountaineers to a lengthy spree, then Annabelle Whiteman unleashed a kill in the third that had the same chain reaction.
“We play confident, but we also play comfortable,” Coach Ooms said. “They have to be able to light that fire to get them going from the start.”
RSB was willing to meet the Rainier hitters at the net. Middle Ava Baugher is the tallest player on the Ravens’ roster and made her presence felt.
The Mountaineers made a timely adjustment to hit around her and the rest of the block. They balanced from slamming aggressive kills down the line or in the back row with tip kills that found a soft spot.
“We’ve found our power,” senior outside hitter Janess Blackburn said. “We’re starting to get smart on how to place the ball.”
Allyson Ooms fueled the back row with a team-best 34 digs while Blackburn (18), Ella Pringle (14) and Brooklynn Swenson (12) also had double digits. Acacia Murphy led the attack with 13 kills plus Blackburn added eight.
Swenson also distributed 16 dimes.
“We know what we have to do,” Blackburn said. “We’re going to play our game.”
Onalaska got 26 digs, 14 kills and three aces from Emalie Jacoby in the loss to Adna. Braelynn Babb recorded 24 assists and Faith Hammer notched five blocks.
