Toledo volleyball has got to be the most popular team in Lewis County right now. The Indians’ thrilling five-set win (25-19, 25-16, 14-25, 20-25, 15-12) over Wahkiakum Wednesday ended what would have been a three-way tie between the Mules, Adna and Napavine for the third, fourth and fifth seeds in the playoffs this weekend. That would have been decided by a coin flip.
Instead, the victory gives Napavine the third seed, Adna the fourth, bumps Toledo up to the fifth and knocks Wahkiakum all the way down to No. 6.
“You have no idea how happy we are,” Toledo coach Candace Maier said. “This is the first time our seniors have beaten Wahkikaum. It might be the first time we’ve beaten them in 10 or 15 years.”
The Indians, who entered the match on fire with three consecutive wins, started out red hot against the Mules, jumping out to a two-set lead in what looked like it might actually be a short night. Instead, the Mules came firing back, tying the game up with an 11-point victory in the third set and a 15-point win in the fourth set.
“After the fourth set, the girls were determined to beat them, and they did it,” Maier said. “I’m proud of them. The girls stayed mentally focused and aggressive. That’s something we’ve been working on.”
Rylie Pliler led with a team-high 13 kills and two blocks, while Kate Demery added 10 kills and seven digs and Emma Cline-Maier contributed a team-high 16 assists, four kills and eight digs.
Brynn Williams tallied 15 assists and four kills, Stacie Spahr notched seven kills and a block and Stefani Arceo-Hansen added 13 digs, one kill and one block.
Playoffs begin Saturday, with the top nine C2BL teams and the top seven Pacific 2B League teams. Raymond, the Pacific’s top-seeded team, had a couple players test positive for COVID-19 last week and could be eliminated from postseason. In that case, the C2BL could gain an extra playoff spot and Pacific could lose one, bringing C2BL to 10 teams and dropping Pacific to six teams.
Seeding, in order, for the C2BL as of Wednesday is:
Adna took care of business against Winlock, sweeping the Cardinals (25-16, 25-12, 25-20) in its league finale on Wednesday.
The win, coupled with Toledo’s victory over Wahkiakum, gives the Pirates the No. 4 seed at the district playoffs on Saturday, which will be a home match at 6 p,m, against the Pacific 2B League’s No. 5 seed.
Against Winlock, Adna was led by Allie Davis’ six aces and four kills, and Madison Fay’s nine aces and three kills. Maddie Kleemeyer added three kills of her own.
“It was a slow-paced game and hard to get momentum,” Adna coach Wendie Dotson said.
The Pirates improve to 7-3 overall and will host the Pacific 2B League’s No. 5 seed at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Onalaska may not have been able to hang with league-leader and undefeated Kalama, losing 25-11, 25-9, 25-7, but the Loggers are still in contention for a postseason spot.
Thursday’s home matchup with Stevenson will decide the Loggers’ fate. A win over the Bulldogs will secure Ony with the final spot at district. A loss will create a three-way tie with Stevenson and MWP, which would result in a three-way playoff on Friday to determine the final seed.
On Wednesday, Dakota Hamilton led the Loggers with a team-high seven kills, while Morgan Hamilton added four kills, six digs and was 89% on serve receive. Andi Oliver collected three blocks in the first set and Raelee Holmes added 11 digs on the night.
“My girls came out and played tough right away,” Onalaska coach Jenny Hamilton said. “The first set was back and forth, then serve receive got in the way. Passing went really well for us tonight, we were just overcompensating and trying to hit over blocks.”
Napavine did what it needed to do, sweeping Morton-White Pass (25-12, 25-15, 25-18) to rebound from a loss the previous night to Wahkiakum.
The Tigers improve to 7-3 and secure the No. 3 seed in the district playoffs after Toledo’s victory over the Mules. Napavine will now host the Pacific 2B League’s No. 6 seed, which will likely be Chief Leschi, Tigers’ coach Monica Dailey said.
Against MWP, Vannie Fagerness led the Tigers with a game-high nine aces, including seven in the first set, to go with 15 digs. Jordan Wilson and Rae Sisson each served 100%, with Sisson adding 17 assists.
Haily Murray once again led the attack with nine kills, while Tanner Simpson chipped in six and Skyla Ettner 4. Sydney Purvis added 14 digs.
Morton-White Pass was led by Chloe Kelly’s 10 assists and 100% serving, while Katie Salguero added four kills. MWP is still in contention for a postseason spot. An Onalaska loss to Stevenson creates a three-way tie and three-way playoff Friday for the ninth seed.
