Lady Mules fall to Ducks; overcome Napavine

The Wahkiakum Mules volleyball team split games on Monday and Tuesday with two more nights of travel planned this week and district play on the horizon.

On Monday, the Lady Mules hosted Toutle Lake and lost in three sets, 9-25, 20-25, and 22-25.

Despite the loss, Coach Kayli Hurley was hopeful.

"There is continual improvement," she said. "We're making positive steps forward. Those were the names of our game tonight. Looking at the set scores, it's pretty obvious we didn't put our best foot forward right off the bat, but my girls didn't roll over."

"Jansi Merz had some huge kills and big blocks," she added, "and Reigha Niemeyer was flying all over the floor and put up some solid serve receive. Teylor Sauer, new in the middle for us, played well overall and MJ Neves worked her tush off running the offense."

The JV team won their match, 27-25, 25-23, and 15-12.

On Tuesday in Napavine, the Lady Mules won in four sets, 14-25, 28-26, 25-20, and 30-28.

"Aside from the first set, these were hard fought sets on both sides," Hurley said. "Napavine scrapped and kept the ball alive. We had to up our consistency and scrap after the first set. My girls made a mental switch, pulled it together and went to battle."

"Rebekah Neves came in after set one and sparked a change for us. Her consistency was key to our turnaround in the match," Hurley added.

Merz had 17 kills, five blocks, and four digs. Niemeyer had 10 digs, three kills, and "was all over the back court." Megan Leitz had four kills and a few assists. MJ Neves had 21 assists. All four were 100 percent from the service line.

The JV team won two of three sets, 25-19, 25-19, and 4-15.

The Lady Mules traveled to Toledo on Wednesday and are scheduled to play in Kalama tonight (Thursday). District play begins on Saturday, possibly at home.

Check the Wahkiakum Eagle Sports Report page on Facebook which will be posting information and scores as they become available.