Mules 7th at state tourney

Last weekend, along with 15 other teams from the four corners of the state, the Mule volleyball team traveled to the Washington 2B tournament in Yakima. The 15-8 Mules shook off an early loss with three consecutive wins and brought home a trophy for seventh place.

They met Asotin in an early morning match on Friday. After four straight wins at district, the momentum and fire that had been traveling with the Mules hit the snooze button and slept in. The Mules lost in three, 20-25, 21-25, 25-27.

Baylee Olsen had nine kills and Kaylee Bryant had six. Maya Stanley and Tyra Elliott had strong performances on serve receive.

“This was obviously a disappointing loss,” Coach Kayli Hurley said. “Not because we lost, but because we performed so poorly when we had higher expectations of ourselves. There were some good things going on during this match, but overall we couldn’t put a full play together. Either serve receive or defense was off or offense was off on most plays. Unforced errors on our side had a great impact on the outcome of this match.”

The Mules were in the loser’s bracket, and they knew that a second loss would send them home.

That afternoon they faced Tacoma Baptist and won in three, 25-16, 25-12 and 25-19. Tori Wegdahl had nine kills, eight digs and a 2.2 serve receive average. Kennedi LaBerge had five kills and Morgan Elliott had 29 assists.

“All around, this was a solid performance and the girls were pretty efficient,” Coach Hurley said. “It could have been tough to rebound from the morning loss, but the girls came back with enough fire and energy to change their fate.”

Saturday morning, the Mules took on Tri-cities Prep and won in four, 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-23. The win ensured them a place in the top eight at the state tournament.

Baylee Olsen had seven kills and two blocks. Grace Peacock added two kills. Madison LaBerge had one kill and one block and Kaylee Bryant had three blocks.

“We came out slow and unfocused for this match,” Coach Hurley said, “but after the end of the first set, the girls rallied and put forth a more concerted effort, which led to our success on the scoreboard.”

Later that day the Mules faced Adna to compete for seventh and eighth places. The Mules won in three, 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20.

Kaylee Bryant had two kills and five blocks. Kennedi LaBerge had two kills. Baylee Olsen had 11 kills. Tori Wegdahl had six kills and “awesome defense.” Jem Dyer had “strong serve receive and a couple key digs.”

“The tournament on the whole was a good one for us,” Coach Hurley said. “Aside from the early misstep, we came out of the tournament with three wins and one loss, which is an improvement on previous years, and that’s what you always hope for. This year, it amounted to bringing home hardware, which is always awesome, but most importantly, the girls proved to themselves that they can compete and be successful against teams from across the state. I’m very proud of what these young ladies were able to accomplish this season.

“All season and during the post season run,” finished Hurley, “we have had a bench full of girls who mostly didn’t see the floor but had an integral part in keeping us pumped up and positive. Our successes are attributed as much to these girls as the ones who are on the floor. They are two seniors, Delaney Doumit and Stephanie Moonen, one junior Whitney Kuller, as well as three freshmen, Peyton Souvenir, Savannah Burdick and Makenzie Anderson, who joined us post season.”

The Mules finished their season with an overall record of 18-5.