Lady Mules win one, lose two at state

Photos for The Eagle by Todd Souvenir

Two tough teams that beat the Wahkiakum Lady Mules volleyball team in regular season and district play spoiled their chances to trophy at the Washington State 2B tournament in Yakima last weekend.

A sixth place district seeding pitted the Lady Mules against the undefeated Kalama Chinooks in the first round on Friday. They lost in three sets with scores of 11-25, 19-25, and 16-25 and were sent to the loser's bracket in the double elimination tournament.

Kalama went on to win the state championship.

"We did some good things in this match," Coach Kayli Hurley said. "We just couldn't find a way to string together enough runs for our efforts to reflect on the scoreboard."

In the second round that day, the Lady Mules beat Manson in three sets, 25-21, 25-15, and 25-15.

"We served well in this game and were efficient on offense, which has eluded us against Kalama," Hurley said.

On Saturday morning, the Lady Mules' season ended with a loss to Toutle Lake in the third round, but not without a fight. Like Kalama, the Ducks have been a tough team for the Lady Mules to beat this year.

The Lady Mules lost in four sets, 19-25, 26-24, 17-25, and 28-30.

"My girls fought hard this match and overcame some adversity that was out of their hands in the first set," Hurley said. "We played some great ball, but mostly the heart and relentless spirit the girls exhibited was a serious point of pride for me as a coach. We were down by something like seven points in the fourth set and the girls rallied back to nearly win it, 28-30."

Over the course of the tournament, Peyton Souvenir had 69 assists, 14 kills, and 14 digs. Sydney Hansen led the team with 18 kills. Makenzie Anderson had 16 kills, 17 digs and three aces. Macie Elliott added 15 kills and five blocks. Ellie Leitz had 10 kills and four blocks. Savannah Burdick had 24 digs and "led the backcourt with her serve receive."

"I have to give a huge shoutout to my bench for the tournament as well as for the entire season," Hurley said. "Sometimes it's not easy to be the athlete that doesn't always play, but the girls on my bench are fiery, engaged and have a huge impact on our success as a team. We would not be who we are as a team, nor would we have been as successful as we were without them."

"As the season comes to a close, I cannot express enough how dearly we will miss the seven graduating seniors," Hurley said. "Post tournament in the locker room, I made it clear to the underclassmen that there are many thanks to be lent to the seniors as they were the first class that bought all the way into the system and have built a culture that is positive, uplifting and selfless within the Mule volleyball program. I am so thankful for them and so, so proud to have been their coach. I look forward to seeing the remaining girls and incoming freshmen take that torch, hold it high, and carry on the traditions that these girls helped to build and solidify. We have big things ahead and much to look forward to."

The is the last season of high school volleyball for seniors Anderson, Souvenir, Burdick, RayAnna Carlon, Sydney Hansen, Katie Johnson and Amber Silva.