TUMWATER — The auxiliary gym at Tumwater High School might have about a fifth of the capacity of the T-Birds’ main gym for volleyball. There isn’t nearly as much space to operate on the baseline, there aren’t banners hanging from the rafters and the walls are as much exposed wood as carefully-painted concrete.
But the auxiliary gym has one thing for the Thunderbirds:
State vibes.
“Every time we win to go to State, it’s in here,” Tumwater coach Molly Cichosz said.
The auxiliary gym was where the T-Birds clinched their State bid back in 2019. After the COVID-19 break, they did so again in the smaller venue in 2021. Last season, the district tournament moved down to Longview, and Tumwater missed out.
Saturday, the bracket fell once more to put the Thunderbirds in a winner-to-State match in the auxiliary gym, against R.A. Long, and once again, Tumwater clinched its spot in Yakima, winning 25-22, 25-13, 25-15.
“It feels good, really good,” Cichosz said. “I’m on an adrenaline high right now, just really excited to be going back. The girls have worked really hard this season, so I’m excited to take advantage of that.”
Paige Henderson led the Tumwater offense with 12 kills and no errors, hitting .500 on the match. Behind her, Tove Hugus added nine kills, Chloe Henderson had seven and Whitney Van Gorkom had six.
“The middles really stood out this game, they really did a good job,” Cichosz said.
Emily Robello dished out 36 assists. At the back, libero Brooklynn Hayes had 21 digs to lead the defense, while Lalie Betschart had 11 and McKayla Clary — who dropped in four of Tumwater’s eight aces — added nine.
After having to grind out a first-set win, the Thunderbirds turned an 18-11 lead in the second into a 25-13 win with a 7-2 run to end it, and never let things get much closer in the third.
“We just had to keep adjusting,” Cichosz said. “(R.A. Long) did a really good job of adjusting to what we were playing and our strengths and weaknesses, so we just kept adjusting and pulled it out.”
The Thunderbirds began their day with a shot at GSHL No. 2 Ridgefield and took a set, but ultimately fell to the Spudders — and 6-foot-5 Stanford commit Lizzy Andrew — 22-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-22.
If anything, though, taking a set from Ridgefield — which has only lost to defending state champs Columbia River and 4A power Camas this season — boosted the T-Birds more than it dug them a hole to get out of.
“We were ready to reset after that,” Cichosz said. “We kept our eye on the goal; we wanted to go to State, and we knew what we had to do.”
