Mules learn lessons at state tourney

"Wait Till Next Year" might be the theme of the Wahkiakum Mule volleyball team after their trip to the Class 2B state tournament last weekend in Yakima.

The Mules put a team without any seniors on the court and were out after losing their first two matches.

However, they say it was a great experience that will help them in the future.

"Participating in the state playoffs was fun and a great experience," said Mule Coach Jeff Rooklidge. "There is a lot of talent in this group and they have an opportunity to achieve good things in the future if they keep working at it.

"The level of play was really strong, just as we expected at the state playoffs. We had trouble in our serve receive and couldn’t stay in system enough to mount a consistent strong attack. The girls played hard and improved an unbelievable amount throughout the season."

The Mules opened play at 9 a.m. on Friday against Dayton, losing 19-25, 12-25, 24-26.

" We started out strong in the first set and jumped out to a lead, but Dayton had some very strong servers, and we struggled in a couple of rotations to pass their serve," Rooklidge said. "They were extremely quick with a strong defense making it tough to mount an effective attack against them."

Brieanna Olsen had 18 assists and five touch blocks. Madison LaBerge and Haylee Budd had three aces apiece from the service line. Blaine Land had 11 kills, and Amy Gawith and Marissa Washington each had three.

"Eva Marie Vik worked hard at the net and had seven blocks," Rooklidge said. "Madison LaBerge also did a nice job blocking with six touch blocks. Washington had a nice match, playing strong at the net. Maya Stanley, Gawith and Budd all had some nice passes in the back row.

The loss sent the Mules into the consolation bracket, where they lost 3-0 to Kittitas in a 9 p.m. match. Scores were 20-25, 20-25 and 19-25.

"Kittitas had some good blockers in the front row, and we struggled with 15 hitting errors in the match," Rooklidge said. "Blaine Land had an excellent tournament attacking in the front row with an average of 14 kills per match. She had 18 kills against Kittitas and had some solid serving."

Olsen had 15 assists and four aces with some solid serving.

"Gawith added six kills and continued her excellent passing out of our serve receive," Rooklidge said. "LaBerge had a couple of aces and four blocks, and Ashley Silva and Budd continued their strong serving with a couple of aces each."