YAKIMA — When Carrie Ooms took over as head coach of the Rainier High School volleyball team, she referred to it as “starting from scratch.”
Her arrival three years ago was to spark an interest in the sport for a program that had just two state appearances in a three-decade span. Rooted in the rich tradition of the C2BL, the Mountaineers were waiting for their taste of success.
And Ooms was not shy about setting lofty goals.
“Their want to win,” Ooms said. “They’re really dedicated and work really hard to meet expectations.”
Three straight state tournament berths later, sixth-seeded Rainier is beginning to see what consistent winning looks like.
Ignited by two four-set victories over seventh-seeded River View and eighth-seeded Liberty (Spangle), the Mountaineers walked out of the Yakima Valley SunDome with the fifth place trophy, the first time ever they have finished top-eight in back-to-back seasons.
Once the celebration concluded on the court, Ooms was visibly teary-eyed. The quartet of seniors – Janess Blackburn, Acacia Murphy, Brooklynn Swenson and Annabelle Whiteman – were with her from the beginning made her emotional.
“Everybody was on board and this long when everyone’s on board, you have a successful team," Ooms said.
Rainier’s fourth trip ended more joyously than last fall. Even after reaching the Class 2B semifinals, it fell in three sets to Lind-Ritzville-Sprague then dropped a four-set verdict in the third/fourth place game against Colfax.
The Mountaineers split the opening two sets against River View in the elimination game and pulled out the win. They dropped the first set to Liberty before running off three straight sets.
“This means a lot to me,” Whiteman said. “Our want to do better every single year after every game, we want to win. Having the ability to back that (effort) up is really something big.”
Blocking has been the biggest in-game hurdle Rainier was trying to clear. In its last two games of the season, it was less sporadic.
Blackburn, Murphy, Anika Plowman and Whiteman closed on team blocks on the outside and Murphy notched a couple solos versus the Lancers.
“They all met and exceeded (expectations),” Ooms said.
Liberty was playing its third consecutive SW Washington team in as many games. Just like against Mossyrock and Adna, the Lancers’ back row was keeping balls alive and making rallies longer than initially thought.
Whiteman left very impressed with the opposition.
“They’re a very talented team, they’re so scrappy,” she said.
Down 23-21 in the third, Rainier scored the final four points on kills by Plowman, Blackburn and the set capper by Murphy. Whiteman and Plowman tied the fourth set at 20-20 with a kill and block, respectively.
Sophomore Allyson Ooms fired an ace to put the Mountaineers up 23-21 and Blackburn ended the season on a high note with a kill.
“We do look to certain players at certain moments,” Coach Ooms said. “As a team, they played (well).”
River View nabbed the second set in the elimination game, then Rainier planted its foot on the gas and cruised in the final two sets.
Even with the graduation of a pair of all-league honorees, the pipeline is far from bare. Allyson Ooms is a returning two-time second team all-league player plus eighth graders Courtney Eckroth and Lexi Beckman earned court time in Yakima.
“I have so much confidence in them,” Whiteman said. “It is about getting that experience they need.”
