Mules 3rd in district, head to state volleyball tourney

Mule take on Reardan in opening roung on Friday

 

November 6, 2014



Last Saturday, the Wahkiakum Mule volleyball team took third place in district after winning two matches and avenging a loss to the team that put them in the consolation bracket. They head to Yakima this weekend for the State B Volleyball tournament.

First they faced the Darrington Loggers and beat them in four sets, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20. This was their second match with the Loggers in eight days, and this time the Mules were ready for them.

“We came out strong in the first set,” Coach Kayli Hurley said, “but we backed off a little too much in the second.”

She praised her middle hitters, Baylee Olsen and Kaylee Bryant, who had 12 kills and 11 kills respectively.

“They were essential to the win offensively,” Coach Hurley said. “ And their touches on the block to slow down Darrington’s offense was highly important in sets three and four.”

Hurley applauded Tori Wegdahl, Kennedi LaBerge and Savannah Burdick for their work in the back court on defense and serve receive.

“They all worked their tails off keeping balls off the floor to win some long and hard fought points,” she said.

Wegdahl had seven kills, and Makenzie Anderson chipped in three more. Burdick and Olsen were 100 percent from the service line.

“This was one of those matches when the stats can’t show the grit and determination showed by all six kids on the court at any given time,” Hurley said. “We knew coming in that we would have to do a great job of adjusting our defense to a couple of Darrington’s more deceptive hitters. The girls rose to the occasion. They were flying all over the floor and really working hard to keep balls in play. It made all the difference.”

Later that day, the Mules faced LaConner, who had just defeated Mossyrock in three sets, in the final match to determine third and fourth place, important for seeding at the state tournament. The Mules won in five sets, 24-26, 26-24, 25-20, 27-29 and 15-8.

“We were fired up for this match,” Hurley said. “LaConner has quite the reputation for having a consistently strong team, but the girls didn’t let that deter them. We knew they were beatable if we played things our way.”

Olsen had 17 kills, Wegdahl had 12, Bryant had seven, LaBerge had five and Grace Peacock added two more.

“Being most efficient was the name of the game in this match,” Hurley said. “Three of the five sets were within a two point margin. We have been working hard at cutting down on unforced errors for both my setters and this final day of District, both Morgan Elliott and Peyton Souvenir worked their tails off to get to balls and make clean plays. Their set choices and feeding the balls to our hitters that were on at the time was crucial to both wins Saturday.”

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Hurley said. “We live and die by the fire and enthusiasm that we bring to each match. Our bench is so incredibly important to our overall demeanor and attitude. If the girls on the court are struggling, we really rely on the bench to pick up our energy levels and get us rolling again. Saturday was a great day for Mule volleyball. It put a confident wind in our sails.”

The Mules are scheduled to play the Reardan Indians on Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the opening round of the State B Volleyball tournament in the Yakima SunDome.

 

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