MOSSYROCK — Rarely does Susan Gordon have a quick trigger. Down 5-2 in the third set and potentially getting swept out of the gym, the Onalaska High School head volleyball coach had no choice.
The message in the huddle was blunt.
“I told them you’re playing like six individuals, we’re not a team right now,” Gordon stated.
Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the Loggers had a different energy. In what was, to this point in the season, a defining moment, they answered the bell.
Emphatically.
Ignited by a perfect 21-of-21 service by sophomore Faith Hammer in the last two sets and the star of Emalie Jacoby responding after a quiet start, Onalaska reverse swept Mossyrock in a 18-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-11, 15-1 statement victory on Tuesday night in Mossyrock.
“It is big and it sets the tone for districts,” Hammer said. “We’re gonna make a big impact people haven’t seen before.”
The last time the Vikings led was 2-1 in the fourth set. From that point on, the Loggers scored 38 of the final 48 match points. The latter only missed one serve during that stretch and completely flipped the match on its head.
Onalaska (8-3, 5-0 C2BL) now has the inside track and a perfect league season and the No. 1 seed in the District 4 tournament. It closes with Morton-White Pass, Napavine and Adna – three teams vying for the last two spots in districts.
“They have great leadership,” Gordon said. “They’ve put in so much time, so much emphasis in this game.”
Sure the Loggers boast one of the best setter-hitter combos in Braelyn Babb and Jacoby. To only think of those two disservices the rest of the lineup. And when they struggled to connect early, others were more than ready to pounce.
Hammer, Renzy Marshall and Sommer Hammer all made plays to keep the first two sets competitive. Jacoby was unleashed in the final three sets, finishing with 20 kills. Faith Hammer chipped in 10 kills.
“Our building of our program, we’ve seen it and keep working like we do every day,” Faith Hammer said. “The amount of discipline we have as a team got us through to this moment."
Gordon was noticeably choking up when discussing the bond between Faith Hammer and eighth grade junior varsity player Alyxandrea Jarvis. They’re a sophomore and eighth grader, respectively, but are tied at the hip.
Whenever Hammer is struggling or down, Jarvis is right there by her side.
“I don’t know what it is about the two of them,” Gordon said. “(Faith) played amazing tonight.”
"It was towards the beginning of the season and she just grabbed my hand and I was like ‘Oh, that’s new,’” Hammer added. “It really hit my heart. It instantly made me attached to her; she’s just an amazing person.”
Hammer took over and fired in six aces from the line, five of them total in the fourth and fifth sets. All the Loggers needed was her to complete the stunner. They brought out a broom and swept up the floor after the handshake line.
“It really made you want to come together,” Hammer said.
All Mossyrock (8-5, 4-1) head coach Alex Nelson could do was try to look at the positives afterwards.
“In the first two sets, we played with confidence,” she said. “We’ve done this all season long where we have great parts in our game, but a focus has been to have a complete set and then have a complete game.”
Jacoby added 30 digs, Babb dished out 27 assists and Karsyn Koenig chipped in three blocks for Onalaska. The Vikings were crisp on the block and defensively in the opening two sets, powered by Audrey Ollikainen and Leah Contreras.
They led by as many as eight in the first set and triumphed in a second set that featured 14 ties up until the final two points on a combined block by Ollikainen and Contreras plus a Kendall Cournyer kill.
It was serve receive that doomed Mossyrock at the end.
“Defense wasn’t a problem later on,” Nelson said. “(Serve receive) is such a mental game. Passing is our strength and we abandoned some emphasis. Little things we will work on.”
Adyson Barrows led a balanced offensive attack with 10 kills while she and libero Taylor Schwartz combined for over 60 digs. Calliope Schultz had 25 assists and 18 digs. The Vikings take on Rainier on Thursday in a key league match.
Onalaska is hopeful the message received will be ever-lasting. It hasn’t won a league title in Gordon’s three years at the helm.
“Play as a team, believe in ourselves,” Gordon said. “Be us.”
