Lady Pirates make sixth straight state tourney
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-East Washingtonian photo
Lady Pirate Maddy Dixon led the team in kills in play to reach the state tourney, notching 18 kills against Oakesdale and 16 in the Colton game. Dixon, voted All-League Player of the Year, also played a key role in Pomeroy's decisive win over St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse last week, pounding 13 kills and serving perfectly 20 times. -East Washingtonian photo
POMEROY–The Lady Pirates are state bound for a sixth year in a row.
Pomeroy earned a berth in the WIAA State Volleyball Tournament, November 14 and 15, with a consolation-bracket win over rival Colton. The Lady Pirates had defeated St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse last week to advance to the District 9 Championship game, as had the Oakesdale Nighthawks, victors over Colton on Nov. 6.
The Lady Pirates, ranked fourth in state by the WIAA's index, meet the Naselle Lady Comets, 10-7 overall and 4-4 in league, who finished third in the 1B Columbia Valley Volleyball league. Pomeroy is 22-4 overall, 11-1 in district play.
"We came out really strong against Oakesdale and then let down in the second set and never regained the momentum," commented Head Coach Amy Smith. "I was proud of the girls for then pulling it together and beating Colton to advance to the state tournament. It is difficult to come off a loss, have to sit a game, and then get the energy up to play again."
Coach Smith believes the Lady Pirates will do well at state if they "play the way we are able to play."
In the Oakesdale game, Maddy Dixon had 18 kills and Heidi Heytvelt had 26 assists.
-East Washingtonian photo
Heidi Heytvelt was instrumental in Pomeroy's return to state, making 26 assists in the District 9 tournament championship game against Oakesdale, and contributing 24 assists in the win over Colton that sent the Lady Pirates to state a sixth consecutive time.
In the Colton game, Dixon had 16 kills and Heytvelt had 24 assists. Jaden Steele had five aces and Alyssa Wolf had 10 digs.
Pomeroy played SJEL at Pomeroy in the first round of playoffs on Wednesday, November 6, winningin three sets 25-13, 25-23, 25-10.
Dixon led in kills with 13 and was 20 for 20 at the service line. Heytvelt led in assists and digs with 22 and 8, respectively. McKenzie Watko contributed six digs and Sydney Watko had five kills.
"We played really well in sets one and three," Smith said. "We showed improvement on the things we have been focusing on in practice, which is always the goal.
"We dug a hole for ourselves in the second set and almost waited too long to turn it around but I was proud of the girls for hanging in there, staying aggressive, and fighting for the win," she said. "SJEL has a good team and picked up a lot of our hits. They definitely made us work for it."