ONALASKA —- Something happened between the first and second set of the Toledo volleyball team’s second match of the evening Tuesday. What it was, no one on the Riverhawk sideline really could say. But the effect was obvious; after four well-oiled sets that ranged from good to great, the Riverhawks simply couldn’t keep the momentum, dropping three straight sets to lose to Forks 16-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-22 to end their season in the district tournament.
“That’s been kind of our story all year,” Toledo coach Kelli Larson said. “I don’t know what it is. They just need to continue to be aggressive in their offensive swings, even when a few don’t go their way.”
Toledo began its day completely out of sorts, dropping multiple points to Ilwaco in the first set on passes that simply went to nobody. One quick timeout was all it took, though, and after trailing 7-4, the Riverhawks promptly scored 71 of the final 98 points in what turned into a 25-11, 25-15, 25-8 sweep.
That got the Riverhawks through one loser-out match, and all they had to do was beat Forks to get two cracks on Saturday to make the state tournament.
And things got off to about as good a start as possible in a first set that ultimately turned into a free-ball drill. Toledo led by as many as 20-9 with the majority of its points coming on kills and aces, and looked to be in as good a groove as it’d been in all season.
But then the second set began, and while the free balls kept flying to their half of the court, the Riverhawks just couldn’t keep their swings going, either backing off to push or tip or hitting the ball out.
Forks, meanwhile, found its grit defensively, digging up absolutely every ball the Riverhawks sent their way.
“They are the scrappiest team, they’re very good at defense,” Larson said. “We don’t have the same quickness with all of our girls to read it.”
Losing the ability to terminate points, the Riverhawks lost the ability to go on runs. After going on three runs of four points or more in the first set, Toledo went on just three more the rest of the match, and two of those came with the Spartans up by at least six and within three points of winning the set.
Ellie Fallon finished with 15 kills to lead the Riverhawks on offense, while Jordynne Hensley had seven on .368 hitting as one of just two players to hit over .200 for the match.
Whitney Olson dished out 40 assists, and finished with a team-high 25 digs. Lyndzie Filla and Stefa Arceo-Hansen both had 22 digs, and Fallon had 21.
Toledo is set to graduate seven seniors, all of whom factored into Larson’s main rotation: Filla, Arceo-Hansen, Hensley, Olson, Eden Jones, Irys DeAguero and Brynn Davis.
“It’s always sad to lose seven seniors, especially ones that worked hard and have been together for years and years,” Larson said. “Last year we went two-and-out in the (district) tournament. This year we won two and lost two. I’m hoping after we get a little maturity in the young girls we have next year, we’ll continue to build our program.”
