Mules head to state volleyball tournament

On to state: The Wahkiakum Mule volleyball team rallied to beat Northwest Christian last Friday and earn a trip to the state Class 2B volleyball tournament this weekend in Yakima.

They start action Friday against Dayton at 9 a.m.

After the Napavine match, the Mules lost to the Mossyrock Vikings in a match to determine the third and fourth places in the district tournament. Adna beat Toutle Lake in the championship match that settled first and second places.

The Mules started Friday action against the Pacific League champion and won 3-0. Scores were 25-17, 26-24, 25-14.

" This was a great match for us," said Mule Coach Jeff Rooklidge. " NW Christian was undefeated during league play in the Pacific, and the girls came out and played well. Blaine Land had 17 kills and dominated at the net, and Amy Gawith had 12 with great decision making. Between the two, they had 29 kills with only four hitting errors."

Setter Brieanna Olsen made 24 assists and served four aces.

"This was probably her best match of the year, getting the ball to our hitters in good spots," Rooklidge said.

Land, Ashley Silva and Haylee Budd served very well, he added, and Gawith did a good job passing from the back line. Middle blockers Caitlin Nicolazzi and Eva Vik made 12 blocks, and Madison LaBerge did a good job serving and blocking, Rooklidge said.

In the second match of the night, the Mules lost 17-25, 22-25, 21-25 to the Mossyrock Vikings.

"We were emotionally drained after our win over NW Christian and didn't play very well in this match," Rooklidge said. "We really struggled with our serve receive, and Mossyrock did a good job taking advantage of that."

Land made 15 kills, and Gawith added seven. Olsen, Silva and Gawith were top servers. Olsen made 26 assists; Nicolazzi made 10 blocks, and Vik added five.

"Maya Stanley hustled and added some good defense along with Brianne Helms," Rooklidge said. "Rachel Patching and Vik both added nice kills during this match."

The Mules beat the Pe Ell Trojans 3-2 last Wednesday to reach the state qualifying match. Scores were 25-23, 18-25, 18-25, 25-23, 16-14.

" This was a hard fought match with both teams fighting to stay alive for a state berth," Rooklidge said. "Our girls showed their resolve especially in sets four and five to come back for the win.

"Land had another great match with 25 kills. Gawith was at her best during crunch time, collecting four kills in the last set to help us come back. She had 10 kills for the match and gave us tremendous passing out of our serve receive.

"Olsen ran our offense well making good decisions setting our hitters. She had 26 assists. Silva and LaBerge made good contributions with tough serving. Olsen served some tough balls to Pe Ell during the last three points of the 5th set to help us win the match-she and Silva were clutch.

"Nicolazzi was solid at the net with 10 blocks including three stuff blocks. Vik added six blocks as well. Budd had a solid match passing in our serve receive offense, and Helms passed well also."