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TOLEDO — Jill Engel didn’t express a panicked face in the hallway at Toledo High School.
She didn’t feel her Pe Ell volleyball team shrunk in the Class 1B District 4 semifinals, the farthest the program has been in four years. She was calm in speaking to them after a match that lasted north of 70 minutes.
“We played our faces off,” Engel stated. “We have nothing to be ashamed of.”
It simply wasn’t enough on Wednesday night.
Taholah’s front line paced by Shirleymae Stafford and Noelani McCroy were lethal, both recording over double digit kills that led the Coastal’s No. 2 seed to a 25-18, 25-19, 25-19 sweep over the Columbia Valley league champs to claim its spot in the district title on Saturday.
The Chitwins duo hit around, at and over the Trojans’ block. Whether it was a duo or Peyton Block solo in the middle, Pe Ell (15-5) didn’t have an answer.
“They hit us hard; it was a challenge,” Engel said. “That one hurt. (Stafford) has got really good block timing and she uses her eyes, thinks it through. They were able to swipe where we weren’t.
“Our blocks were too late.”
It’s the first time the Trojans have been swept in the season opener versus Toutle Lake, over two months ago. Now, they get a third meeting in two weeks with league rival Wahkiakum on Thursday night in a winner-to-state game.
The Mules won in five sets on Oct. 23, then Pe Ell responded with a four-set win on Nov. 1 to end up as the one seed in the district.
This contest has much higher stakes. First serve is slated for 7:30 p.m. at South Bend High School.
“We did make some adjustments so hopefully, it’ll help us tomorrow too," Engel said. “We gotta battle.”
Taholah raced out to an 18-11 lead in the opening set and held off a late Pe Ell rally to win the set. The latter jumped out to a 5-1 cushion in the second, but a long rally that ended with a Trojans attacking error gave the Chitwins plenty of momentum.
They went from trailing by four to leading by five and forcing a Pe Ell timeout.
“Those big runs, they are a momentum swing. It does change the way our heads are,” Engel said. “They kept their spirits up even though it was a hard game. We do have a lot to take away from it.”
Still, Pe Ell didn’t waver and tied the set at 16 apiece. Serve receive has been one of its achilles heel and two aces by Taholah’s Lailani Wagner only reinforced the struggles. The Chitwins tallied eight of the final 10 points to lead the best-of-five match 2-0.
In the third set, the Trojans only led and never more than two points. The closest they got down the stretch was three twice. Madi Engel led the way with nine kills while Karli Pehlps distributed 15 assists. Libero Sophia Milanowski had nine digs and Engel chipped in.
“It is hurting us,” Engel said of their serve receive. “It is just not coming together all the time back there.”
It took unique circumstances for Pe Ell to get to the state tournament last fall. There won’t be a fifth set stoppage this time around.
And Engel is fully confident her bunch can get back to Yakima for the second year in a row.
“We’ve got a lot of energy in these girls,” she said. “They outshine in their presence on the court.”
