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YAKIMA–A hallmark of the 2021 volleyball season, the Lady Pirates battled adversity and up hill through the consolation round to come out of the 1B State Volleyball Tournament with a seventh-place trophy after losing in the opening round.

"In a lot of ways, State reflected our season," commented Head Coach Adam Van Vogt, whose squad finished the season 17-9. "We overcame so much adversity and there were many times our girls could have just said, 'this is too hard or too much to overcome.' They never did. They embraced everything this crazy season threw at them and just continued to learn and improve.

"I believe this team improved over the course of one season as much or more than any team I've ever coached," he continued. "That is a testament to these girls and their great attitude. For example, due to Covid reschedules, we had a span of 11 matches in 14 days to finish the regular season and district playoffs. I question if that kind of rigorous schedule has ever happened in the history of the state, but they persevered and I couldn't be more proud of them."

In their fourth and final match of the tourney, the Lady Pirates defeated Shoreline Christian 3-1 for seventh place. Earlier in the second day of the tournament, Pomeroy sent the Republic Lady Tigers home with a 3-0 win and advancement to the trophy round.

The Lady Pirates opened the 1B tournament with a disappointing loss to 17-3 Naselle's Lady Comets in three sets. Naselle lost to eventual state champions Oakesdale in the next round, and finished in fifth place.

Bumped to the consolation bracket, the Lady Buccaneers finished a long, opening day with a late-evening match against Darrington, needing five sets to wrest a victory from the Lady Loggers.

Naselle

Naselle Lady Comets downed the Lady Bucs in the tournament's opening round, 20-25, 16-25, 12-25.

"Naselle was a very solid team and had only lost three matches all season," observed Van Vogt. "We battled early in each game but in every set they pulled away late."

Naselle's first-serve ace seemed to set the tone as both teams worked to shake the "state jitters" in the early going.

Caruso's ace serve tied it 4-4, but Comet Maria Grimmett served Naselle to a 4-9 lead before serving short for side out.

Side outs were traded then Naselle piled on a few more points to grow the difference to six when Haillee Brewer, the Pirates' 5-10 sophomore outside hitter nailed a kill.

Clara Jentz served a few points to bring Pomeroy back 12-14, prompting a Lady Comet time out.

Jentz's next serve wasn't received, cutting the margin to one point, then the Lady Comets took off, serving two series that put them up 14-20.

They nudged the lead to 16-23 when Caruso served an ace and Dixon scored on a dink over the net for set point. Pomeroy scored one more but the Lady Comets sealed the win with one of those pesky hits that roll along the top of the net before dropping on Pomeroy's side for the set win.

The Lady Pirates seemed to be popping back as Jillian Herres served to a 3-0 lead, thanks in part to a Elizabeth Ruchert kill. Intense play marked the single digits of the game with ties at four, five, seven, eight, nine, 10 and 11, where the Pirate offense stalled.

Comet Kaylin Shrives had two aces on the way to an 11-16 lead, and the Comets capitalized on mental errors to break into the twenties and finish on a Brewer kill that was long, 16-25.

The Lady Pirates took the court with fire in their eyes–digging deep for the spark to come back with a win.

Again, both teams jockeyed for position in the early going, tied at 4-4. Pomeroy took command on libero Caruso's service, growing the lead to 8-5 on some unforced errors by Naselle and capped with a Maves kill.

The score tipped back and forth up to an 11-11 tie, and the Lady Bucs got stuck at 11 while Naselle added five points before the chilly streak was snapped on a Comet kill that was long, 12-16.

Jadence Gingerich stepped up to serve but Naselle scored on a tap over, and Naselle's Morgan Reitz took her team to the 12-25 win.

Keely Maves was presented the Sportsmanship Medallion.

Stat leaders were Herres with 12 digs and 2 aces, Maves with 7 kills and 5 digs, and Caruso with 12 digs.

Darrington

The Lady Pirates advanced in the consolation round with a five-set win over Darrington's Lady Loggers, 16-25, 25-13, 25-17, 17-25, 15-13, late Thursday night.

"Our girls found a way to close out a tough game five, stave off elimination and earn a trip to the tournament's second day," Van Vogt said. "Our girls had tremendous energy and used it to carry us to the win."

In the crucial fifth set, both Pomeroy and Darrington battled to a 12-12 tie with six previous ties on the way up. Trailing 6-7, Dixon served an ace to tie it 7-7 then Maves tipped a dink over the net for an 8-7 Pirate lead.

On the next play, Jentz's hit over the net was tipped back, tying it at 8 all. Darrington's next serve wasn't received for an 8-9 Logger advantage, then Maves's kill landed long for a 8-10 lead.

Maves had another shot at the net and scored, giving her the serve and a 9-10 score. Darrington made the lead two points again when Jentz's block landed wide. But Darrington's next serve was short making it 10-11 and service Pomeroy.

Jentz hammered an ace to tie it 11-11, then Logger Rainee Nations' tap kill fell wide for a 12-11 Pomeroy advantage and a Logger time out.

Logger Claire Wright tapped a soft shot for point and 12-12. She then served and a Darrington set sailed a little too far and was a perfect set up for Ruchert to nail another kill and a 13-12 Pirate lead.

Rotation came around to lead server Herres, and again the Loggers made a pass that set up Ruchert making a dink kill. Darrington got the serve back and were nipping at Pomeroy's heels, 14-13 when, after Alyvia Wright's serve and frantic volleys, Brewer was able to return the ball for match point.

In the first set, the Lady Pirates jumped ahead 3-0, let Darrington catch up, then both teams grappled up the scoring ladder, neck and neck until 13-13, when the Loggers nudged ahead and the Pirates froze at 14-18.

Ruchert broke the ice with a kill making it 15-18, but the Loggers scored a couple three-point runs to win 16-25.

The second set showed the Lady Pirates with some fire and Darrington's intensity lower. From a 2-2 tie, Pomeroy ripped to a 13-2 lead, then rode that positive momentum to the 25-13 win.

Set 3 was another hard-fought battle, both teams jockeying up through the go-ahead point by Maves at 13-11 on serves by KayLee Schmidt. Darrington hung around but Pomeroy maintained its three- or four-point margin on the way to the 25-17 win and up two games to one.

Darrington made it a match with a 17-25 fourth-set win, taking no prisoners in the early going and never relinquishing the lead since the 1-1 tie. Just before halfway through the match, Pomeroy rebounded to trail by two points, 8-10 but then Darrington froze them at eight through five serves.

The seven-or-so point lead held through the set point in a match marked by long runs with Jadence Gingerich serving during a Pirate four-point comeback up to 17-22 before Darrington shut the door 17-25.

Stat Leaders were Herres: 32 assists, 13 digs, 4 aces on 17 for 17 serving; Maves: 15 kills and 10 digs; Ruchert: 10 kills; Dixon: 5 kills, 4 digs, and 5 aces on 19 for 19 serving; Schmidt: 9 digs and 1 ace on 14 for 15 serving; and Caruso 13 digs and 4 aces on 19 for 20 serving

Republic

The Lady Pirates played strong to defeat Republic in three sets, 25-21, 25-17, 25-20.

"We played a very solid game," Van Vogt said. "We won in three and led for most of each game. I was pleased with our ability to close them out each game."

Caruso worked on defense, making 10 digs, and was a force on offense, going 12 for 12 serving.

-East Washingtonian photo

Keely Maves, Pirate senior outside hitter, made an impact at the State Tournament, nailing 57 kills over the four matches in Yakima, hitting 23 in the final match versus Shoreline Christian.

Serving was also a strong point for Schmidt, who was perfect with 11 of 11 at the service line and eight digs.

Dixon was powerful while serving, counting five aces and making four digs.

At the net, Maves was tough with 12 kills, and Brewer notched seven. Maves and Brewer each counted four digs.

Shoreline Christian

The win over Republic put the Lady Pirates on the trophy round against Shoreline Christian.

"We dropped the first game but didn't get rattled and won the next three games to take home the seventh-place trophy," Van Vogt said.

Pomeroy faltered in the opening set, losing 20-25, then pressed on to win the next three sets, 25-21, 25-19 and a close final set, 26-24.

Stat Leaders: Herres: 41 assists, 18 digs and 2 aces; Maves: 23 kills, 16 digs, and 4 aces; Schmidt: 9 digs and 3 aces; Kenall Dixon: 8 digs, 5 kills, and 2 aces; Caruso: 23 digs; and Brewer: 6 kills.