Mule win one, lose one in league volleyball

The 5-4Wahkiakum Mule varsity volleyball team swept Winlock 3-0 last Thursday and fell to Adna 3-1 on Tuesday in Central League volleyball action.

Scores against visiting Winlock were 25-12, 25-3, and 25-22.

"Blaine Land had 16 kills with only one hitting error during the match," said Mule Coach Jeff Rooklidge. "She also had 10 aces serving.

"Amy Gawith had eight kills with one service ace and was one of our top passers. Caitlin Nicolazzi had five kills, and Ashley Silva and Madison LaBerge added two kills each.

"Haylee Budd had a great night passing at the libero position and also did a great job serving for the match. Brieanna Olsen dished out 26 assists and ran our offense well."

On Tuesday against visiting Adna, the Mules won the first game 25-11 but then lost 20-25, 20-25, 22-25.

" We came out on fire in the first set, playing great volleyball," Rooklidge said. "Adna improved their defense and dug some tough balls in the second and third sets, and we just struggled to recover.

"Blaine Land led the team in kills with 18. Gawith added 10 kills. Silva had four kills.

"Budd and Gawith were our top passers for the match. Nicolazzi came out red hot and had five blocks in the first game, doing a nice job at the net.

"Olsen led our team with 26 assists as our setter. Top servers for the match were Olsen and Marissa Washington."

The Mule junior varsity had a good week, defeating Winlock 25-13, 25-14, 15-13, and taking part in the Clatskanie Tournament on Saturday.

"Serving was a huge key to our win against Winlock," said JV Coach Joyce Wilson.

Hailey Quigley and Maya Stanley did a great job setting for hitters Washington, Rachel Patching, Stephanie Moonen and Eva Vik, Wilson said, and Kelsea Blix and Jem Dyer were defensive standouts.

At Saturday's tournament, the JV's defeated Warrenton 25-15, 25-14 and lost 19-25, 16-25 to Valley Catholic and 20-25, 20-25 to Corbett. In the consolation bracket, they defeated Warrenton 25-17, 25-23 and Seaside 21-25, 25-10, 15-0.

"Ashley Silva served a perfect game against Seaside," Wilson said. "She had 15 kills and 26 aces for the day."

Washington tallied 20 kills and seven aces; Vik had 17 kills and seven aces; Patching made nine kills; Quigley had 15 aces and Stanley had 11.

"Blix and Dyer had solid performances defensively," Wilson said.

The teams are at Mossyrock tonight (Thursday) and entertain Napavine on Tuesday. They go to Morton/White Pass next Thursday.