YAKIMA — As Rainier coach Carrie Ooms watched her team share hugs, take photos, laugh, and cry together following their final game at the 2B State Tournament, a few words came to mind.
“It’s bittersweet,” Ooms said. “It’s amazing. It’s just great.”
No. 3 Rainier got to celebrate with the fifth-place trophy after a stellar bounceback day on Thursday in Yakima, where the Mountaineers beat No. 7 Northwest Christian (Colbert) 25-14, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23 in an elimination game before defeating No. 4 Liberty Bell 25-20, 25-15, 27-25 in the 5th/6th game.
In the game against Liberty Bell, the Mountaineers led 17-12 at one point in the third set, but Liberty Bell rallied back to tie the game at 22.
After a timeout, the two teams traded points before Rainier was able to score the final two points of the match and seal the sweep.
Against Northwest Christian, Rainier jumped out to a 2-0 lead before dropping the third, and the Mountaineers were able to hold off the Crusaders in the fourth set to advance to clinch a state trophy.
“They pulled through when we really needed it,” Ooms said. “It was just amazing.”
It’s Rainier’s third top-5 finish at the state tournament in the last four years, along with a fourth-place finish in 2023 and a fifth-place finish in 2024.
Prior to these past four years, the Mountaineers had never placed at the state tournament.
“I love the fact that we’ve been able to place, and we’ve done things that Rainier volleyball has never been able to do,” Ooms said. “The girls have earned their right to be here at state and compete and be where they’re at. It’s just really amazing to see where we started and to show, especially our school, ‘hey, we are top notch. We can get it done. We are there.’”
The biggest part of the bittersweet feeling for Ooms was that it was her final game coaching Allyson Ooms, one of her daughters and Rainier’s lone senior.
Allyson Ooms has played a crucial role in each of the past four seasons for Rainier, including the 2025 team that won the district title, when she won Central 2B MVP honors.
She won the award again this past year while leading the Mountaineers back to the district championship game and back to Yakima for the fourth year in a row.
Allyson Ooms and Carrie Ooms shared a moment together postgame, and Carrie Ooms smiled while talking about the impact her daughter has made on the team over the course of her career.
“Great kid. Very coachable. Great athlete. Great leader. Good teammate. Positive,” Carrie Ooms said. “Just an all-around athlete.”
While Allyson Ooms will depart to Cal State Bakersfield for her next chapter, the rest of the Mountaineers (19-5) are expected back in 2027.
Ellie Pringle was the team’s lone junior, Emma Ooms, Courtney Eckroth, Lexi Beckman, Jessica Adamski, Allyson Baker, Kyla Capen, and Elyse Plowman are all sophomores, and both Reagan Bloom and Iris Lugo are freshmen.
Beckman, Eckroth, and Pringle all earned second-team C2BL honors this fall, and Ooms added that her youngest daughter is expected to join the team.
“It’ll be great,” Carrie Ooms said. “I think we’re gonna be okay, and hopefully we’ll have another few years at state.”
