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Wolves show character in march to fifth place at State
ANDREW CHRISTIANSEN
Reporter
High school sports are supposed to be about learning life skills and building character. Goldendale’s volleyball team was presented with a tough test of character at the state tournament Friday, and everyone was waiting to see how they would respond.
The district champs, rated number two in the state, and a regular qualifier for the state tournament, carried a ton of expectations on their backs as they entered play on Friday. Would they finally beat Kings for first, or would they have to settle for second or third? They had it all this year, great senior leadership and experience against some of the area’s best teams. They were undefeated and ready to be annointed.
Then came Friday’s opening round match against Chelan. About an hour later, the season came crashing to the floor with a four game loss that sent the Timberwolves along a path to fifth place, at best, and empty-handed was a real possibility.
There were plenty of tears in the locker room, but Coach Jodi Bellamy said they would “make lemonade out of lemons,” and the true mark of the team would be their ability to go and get the best finish that was within their grasp.
Coach Bellamy sympathized with Klickitat, who also saw a top two slip away. “We had a day to put it behind us. They had about 20 minutes. It’s not an easy task,” said Bellamy.
Stevenson
Saturday morning’s unfortunate opponent was Stevenson. Nikki Williams stated the situation best. “We’re feeling a little fight today,” said the Timberwolf senior. No regrets, just a single focus on winning fifth place.
Stevenson put up a good fight behind Bailey Nelson’s hitting and good defense by Kelsey Penner, but everyone contributed for Goldendale. Bloom, playing on a sore leg from a pulled muscle in the Chelan match, had five kills and two blocks in the opener with outside support from Hannah Swigart and Ryell Carley, each with a pair of kills on assists from Kylee Bellamy. The final score was 25-14.
Game two was capped with two Bloom kills for a 25-21 win and game three was Bloom early and Bloom late for a 25-23 win. Bloom had kills on three of Goldendale’s first four points. Three Ashley Barrett kills and a Sadie Shattuck block overcame a 12-17 deficit. In the end, it was all Bloom. The senior blocked Mandy Stump, had two hard kills and finessed two easy ones to send the Bulldogs packing.
Lakeside
The next victim was Lakeside, out of Nine Mile Falls. The first two games belonged to Goldendale, but they earned every point. Frontline players put up several blocks and the back line fielded kills and serves with good passes to setter, Bellamy.
Following the 25-20 game one win, Goldendale trailed 7-16 in game two. The game turned on a missed kill by Cami Alexander. Bloom killed over Alexander on the next play and Bloom and Carley combined to stuff Alexander’s next attempt. Swigart tied the game at 20 with a kill and did it again at 21.
Shattuck had a tip and teamed with Bloom for another block to take the lead at 24-23. Both teams scramled on the next point that finally came to an end on a Bloom block followed by a kill.
Lakeside was ahead again in game three, this time withstanding a Timberwolf rally. Heather Hesselgesser elevated her game with three key kills and a service ace to preserve a 19-25 Lakeside win.
The fourth game was another team effort with good play from Cassie Kelly and Becky Gourley. Shattuck broke it open with six straight points on serve and scoring was provided by Bloom and Barrett with three kills each and Bellamy who had two kills and two blocks. Back-to-back blocks by Bloom on Leslie Stillar and Barrett on Alex Daggy discouraged the Eagles and Goldendale had a 25-18 win for the match.
River View
Things looked bad for the SCAC on Friday night when all four entries in the state tournament were eliminated from championship contention. Two would be eliminated from the tournament on Saturday morning, as Zillah and Connell exited with two straight match losses. That made it all the more important for Goldendale and River View to play their best.
Both teams showed they had the character to overcome adversity. River View defeated Kalama after an incredible undoing of Onalaska.
There would be no surprises on the center court when Goldendale and River View met. It had been just one week since the Timberwolves defeated the Panthers for the District 5 championship in five, tough games.
The pair of eights, Bloom for Goldendale and Becky Flores for Riverview had a few confrontations in the early going. Flores scored on a couple kills, then Bloom stuffed her twice. Flores returned the favor. Most of the second half action revolved around Chani Brisby who led the Panther charge in an attempt to rebound from a 20-14 deficit. Brisby finished the game with five kills, but the final score was 25-19.
Game two was led by Riverview from start to finish. Flores had six kills and three blocks in the game. Goldendale defended Brisby and Hess well, but had several hitting errors. A brief run was made late in the game, but a Flores kill made it 21-25.
Game three was a mystery game for Riverview. It was as if they fell so far behind, so quickly that they decided to rest to the end and come back in game four. Williams second ace made the score 6-1 and Goldendale’s defense neutralized Flores and Brisby. Two Bloom blocks made it 11-3 and Riverview coach, Katie Gaumer called time out. It didn’t help. Swigart and Bloom landed big shots. Shattuck continued to serve bullets and it ended mercifully at 25-6.
An apparently rested Panther squad rebounded to take game four 14-25. This time it was Goldendale who appeared tired with four kills and two serves finding the net. Flores padded her stats with five kills and two blocks.
Flores was at her best in the final game, scoring eight kills, including all of the Panthers’ first six points. Carley, Williams, Bellamy and Gourley tallied a lot of digs and seven Timberwolf points came from Swigart and Carley kills. A Swigart shot was miraculously dug, but she made it stick on her second opportunity to put Goldendale up 13-10. The Panthers scored their last point on a Flores kill and Goldendale finished the game with a Shattuck kill and a Riverview error for the 15-11 final score.
It completed 10 games in one week between the two teams. Goldendale won six and the total margin was just 26 points.
Coach Bellamy was glad to see her players “come through with big plays in crunch time.”
In the end, first place was just a dream, but the lesson for life was learned in Saturday’s sweep to the finish. Fifth in state is pretty good.
According to the coach, “it was a wonderful ending for the six seniors. I know they will have many fond memories of what they accomplished.”
Goldendale stats: Barrett 25 kills, 8 blocks; Bellamy 136 assists (92 percent of the team assists), 4 aces; Bloom 76 kills, 26 blocks; Lexi Cameron 94 percent serves, 34 serve receives, 36 digs; Carley 13 kills, 17 digs; Gourley 80 percent serve receives, 14 digs; Amber Ihrig 83 percent serves; Cassie Kelly 8 digs; Shattuck 7 aces, 97 percent serves, 17 digs; Swigart 63 digs, 23 kills; Williams perfect on 70 serves, 87 percent serve receives, 68 digs.
Heartbreak loss keeps Vandals from championship match
ANDREW CHRISTIANSEN
Reporter
Sometimes it is hard to settle for something less when first place is within your grasp. It was right there, staring Klickitat’s volleyball team in the face…a shot at being number one. When it all slipped away in their semifinal loss to LaCrosse-Washtucna, it was no simple thing for them to walk to the other end of the building and go at it again for third place.
The tears were still flowing midway through the first game against Wilbur-Creston when Coach Jaecee Hoctor called time-out to regroup. They were down 10-21 and had lost their fire, their hustle, their communication…they were emotionally and physically spent. Lost in the circumstances was the fact they were closing out a great season and were about to take home the sixth place trophy, one better than last year. Third place didn’t seem like an option.
Mary Wright
Klickitat got off to a great start by sweeping Mary Wright 25-11, 25-12, 25-13 in their opener on Friday. The third game was a showcase for Zoe Lindner who served up six points, had five kills and two aces. She was wily at the net scoring three straight points with well-placed tips. Samantha Brewer was a killing and blocking machine with five kills in the third game and the winner in game one.
Almira-Coolee-Hartline
The next opponent, Almira-Coulee-Hartline (ACH) would be a greater test. It was here that LaCrosse-Washtucna sent the Vandals to the consolation bracket last year, so a win was essential if they hoped for a better outcome at State this year.
The first game was marked with errors and missed kill shots on both sides of the net. Leading 8-7, Lara Parsons, one of Klickitat’s two starting eighth-graders (Ashley Meeks is the other), ran off five straight points from serve with the help of kills by Lindner and Brewer. The warriors fought back as Megan Osborne ran off five points for her team.
Haily Peha also rose to the occasion for the Warriors and it was a battle to the end. Lindner served out the final two points for a 25-22 win.
Game two was all Osborne. The senior had four kills and a big point off a dig. Her play and front line blocks of Brewer’s attack gave ACH a 19-25 win.
The next two games were also split, 25-19, 18-25, as Brewer became more effective after changing the angle of her approach, and Kazia Starkenburg and Nikki Osborne picked up their games for the Warriors. Parsons scored on a couple of blocks in game three and had another run at serve in game four for Klickitat.
The Vandals put ACH in a big hole early in game five, behind Kali Fargher’s great sets and Brewers kills and blocks. Fargher burned the Warriors twice with seeing-eye tips, and Parsons closed the door with a block and kill for the 15-9 win.
That left the Vandals as one of four undefeated teams, one match away from a top two finish. They would have to beat LaCrosse-Washtucna to do it.
LaCrosse-Washtucna
Klickitat showed they could play with the Tigercats, in fact Brewer seemed to give the Vandals the edge over the shorter, but more mature team. The first game started like each of the five they would play…Klickitat falling behind and having to make a come-back. They did it in game one with Lindner having a seven point run at serve to take a 16-15 lead. Brewer pounded out five kills, Martisha Woodall knock down two key kills, and Farger had a couple of tips down the stretch for a 27-25 win.
The Tigercats had the upper hand in game two, leading 11-19. The rest of the game was even and Klickitat lost 17-25. Similarly, a 12-20 lead was too much to overcome in game three and the Vandals were staring at defeat after the 18-25 loss.
Coach Hoctor called for the girls to dig deep and not let it end there. The Vandals were not to be denied as they eked out a 25-20 win.
Everything was on the line for both teams in the final, 15 point shootout. Kelly Zimmer and Della Fleming teamed up to block a Brewer smash, and the Tigercats led 2-4. Fleming and Brewer exchanged kills and Brewer tied the game at five. Fleming had kills for two of the next four points, supporting Kirsten Stubbs who served up six consecutive scores for LaCrosse-Washtucna. The Vandals had used all they had and were unable to prevent the final 9-15 Tigercat win.
Wilbur-Creston
By the time Klickitat began to recover, they were down a game to Wilbur-Creston. They worked their way back from five points down on a couple of occasions, but Allison Reed kept drilling hard shots at the reeling Vandal back line until game two was gone, 21-25.
Brewer and Lindner played a great game at net for the final, each with five kills and three blocks for points. But Reed had four kills and had much needed help from Jewel Gamboa who added three kills and the team served up four aces for a 20-25 win.
Coach Hoctor was proud of her team, but wished they could have given their all in the final match. Although LaCrosse-Washtucna would go on to win the title, Hoctor felt that Wilbur-Creston was a more difficult team for her girls to play.
“They (LaCrosse-Washtucna) didn’t have big hitters. They were consistent and were more about placement.” Looking back at the stats it is hard to see how Klickitat lost the match, as Brewer owned the net with 24 kills and Lindner and Fargher added 18 more.
They did accomplish their goal of finishing better than last year. The team has a history of relying on eighth graders to fill-out the varsity team. WIAA rulse say that eighth graders can be used only to salvage the varsity program and there must be eight or fewer high school players to qualify. Klickitat had just seven. With the team losing one player to graduation, more than eight high school players, which would mean no eighth graders next year.
While having more experienced players is desireable, Hoctor enjoyed having eighth graders on the team because it allowed her an extra year to mould them into the players she wanted them to be. While inexperience is a handicap, Hoctor said the group of eighth graders on the team are good athletes who know volleyball.
Klickitat stats: Brewer 78 kills, 8 blocks; Fargher 54 assists, 30 kills; Lindner 29 kills, 9 aces, 2 blocks; Meeks 41 assists.
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