Emma McGreal has been a factor ever since her sophomore year for the W.F. West High School volleyball team. Her top responsibility two years ago was a front row presence; as a junior she started to be more all-around.
Now, she’s a true all-rotation player. Whether from the service line, the back row or the outside, McGreal is everywhere.
“I just kept serving away,” McGreal said.
When W.F. West needed someone to step up, the senior happily obliged.
The 5-foot-8 hitter posted 18 kills, seven aces and was 100 percent from the line to help the Bearcats claim a 25-27, 25-15, 25-14, 25-20 Swamp Cup triumph over Centralia on Tuesday night on Ron Brown Court.
It’s the third straight season W.F. West has won the Evergreen Conference rivalry matchup on the road, but only the 2024 season in that stretch did it sweep both meetings.
“I very much trust them, they know how to dig out of a hole,” Bearcats head coach Tiffany Alvarado said. “Our serve receive gave us the ability to run a lot of different options.”
McGreal played a central role in the second set. Neither side led by more than three and it was tied 14-14 before the Bearcats (6-3, 2-1 EvCo) grabbed hold thanks in large part to three aces and a kill by McGreal amidst a 6-0 spree.
Libero Aspen Gist closed the set with an ace, two points before another McGreal kill, to square the match at 1-1.
It was a similar story in the third set where McGreal capped an 8-0 run with back-to-back aces to put W.F. West on the verge of a mini comeback. Gist recorded four aces while Paige Duncan had two.
“We pushed through it,” McGreal said. “We got better over time, communicating more and our passing got better.”
Centralia (3-7, 0-3) either had serve receive errors, hitting errors or net violations that stopped its momentum in those two critical sets.
“I can almost guarantee there was a lot of overthinking that was taking place,” Tigers head coach Marti Smith said. “The good thing is it is all fixable, but it has to be fixed in practice.”
Like the previous three, set numero quatro was back-and-forth until the Bearcats put the finishing touches on the win. Brooklyn Spencer notched 15 kills and was perfect from the service line plus Duncan and Jamiah Wood recorded five kills apiece.
Duncan also went over 30 assists, distributing plenty from the front and the back.
“It makes us a dynamic hitting team,” Alvarado said. “We rely on Emma a lot.”
The first set was a barn-burner.
W.F. West was two points away from a dominating set, but Smith called a timeout and the serving – led by Kendyl Guenther – picked up en route to 13 unanswered points for the Tigers. They staved off one set point with back-to-back sideouts to win 27-25.
Smith was hopeful the energy would feed into the rest of the match. It wasn’t enough to nab another set. Guenther registered 12 kills and six aces while a foursome of back row players finished with double digit digs.
Ava Horst dished out 16 assists and was 11-of-12 serving. Ryleigh Butler had seven kills and Alena Brenner ended with six and zero hitting errors.
“When we serve well, things go well,” Smith said. “They fought for every point and that’s what you get in a rivalry game.”
All of W.F. West wins have been in four of five sets. Early in the league slate, it sits in third place and has a two-game cushion on Centralia and Black Hills to host a pigtail game. The Bearcats will host Aberdeen on Thursday, one of the unbeatens in the EvCo.
“We have a lot of confidence; we train to be the best,” McGreal said.
The Tigers and Wolves also tangle on Thursday with the winner having the inside track at a playoff spot. Still, a lot of season remains and Smith believes her group is on the cusp of putting it together.
“They’re gonna put up a fight,” she said. “We got to dig deep and make some quick changes and adjustments. I believe in them and once they start believing in themselves, we’ll get there.”
