Mule netters beat M/WP, Onalaska

The Wahkiakum Mules volleyball team celebrated their seniors and earned two more wins this week. Their record as of Tuesday was 5-3 in league and 10-3 overall.

At home last Thursday, the Mules swept Morton/White Pass in three sets, 25-13, 25-14, 25-18.

"This was a solid performance overall for us," Coach Kayli Hurley said. "We made some awesome scrappy defensive plays tonight. The girls were pursuing the ball really well out of the system and we did a better job of controlling the ball on our side of the net than we did last week."

Hurley praised Peyton Souvenir who had three kills, five digs and 18 assists; Kennedi LaBerge, who had six kills and five aces; Grace Peacock, who had seven kills and was 100 percent from the service line. She also commended Tyra Elliott, Savannah Burdick and Makenzie Anderson for their serving, all were 100 percent from the line.

"Sydney Hansen played a great all around game, picking up some good balls on defense and playing strong at the net," Hurley said.

It took all five sets to put away Onalaska on Monday, 26-24, 23-25, 25-13, 20-25 and 20-18.

"Ony is a super scrappy team," Hurley said. "It takes a lot of work to earn a single point. They don't let anything hit the floor. We had to spread out our set percentages between hitters and give everyone an opportunity to put an aggressive ball over the net to try to find a hole.

"We did a great job of staying mentally tough in a really stressful situation in set five. We were down most of the set and most notably 11-14 as Grace Peacock hit the service line. We were able to scrap and bring ourselves back to an even 14-14. It was point for point until the end and both teams were making great plays. It was really fun to watch."

Standouts were Anderson, who had 17 kills and "great serve receive;" Peacock, who added 14 kills and was "a real spark plug for us on offense, not to mention her come from behind service run in set five," and Souvenir, who had seven kills and 39 assists.

"Tyra Elliott played a stellar game on the defensive side and her serve receive was on point," Hurley said. "In reality this was a huge team effort with everyone finding a critical time to make a big play and pick up some slack when another was struggling through a play or two.

"I am super proud of my girls tonight. This was a big one for us."

This was the final home game for seniors Tyra Elliott, Rory Heywood, Kennedi LaBerge and Grace Peacock.

The Mules traveled to Winlock on Wednesday for their last game of the regular season. A report was not available in time for press. Teams start district playoffs next Wednesday with finals on Saturday. Watch The Eagle's website, waheagle.com, and Facebook page for updates.