Centralia Takes Close Four-Setter Over Elma

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It wasn’t easy, but the Centralia volleyball team kept up its winning ways with its second straight victory over a 1A side, beating Elma in four close sets, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21. 

“This was the kind of match that the girls needed,” head coach Marti Smith said. “They needed to be tested and have their backs against the wall, (and) come together and keep battling one point at a time.”

The backs ended up against the wall in the fourth set, down 18-13 with momentum in Elma’s favor and the possibility of a fifth set looming.

“I made them look at the scoreboard, and said, ‘Are we done? Are we out of this?’” Smith said.  “They said ‘No, we’ve come back from this before, we can do this.’”

Then, the Tigers went out and proved themselves right, rattling off a 12-3 run to end the match then and there.



“I was proud of their grit in that fourth set,” Smith said.

Peyton Smith did just about everything for Centralia, racking up 21 assists, nine digs, eight aces, and four blocks. Lauren Wasson added the kills with a team-high eight and also put up 13 digs and five aces of her own.

Hollynn Wakefield had six kills and Tatum Johnston added five, while Gracie Schofield and Selah Calkins had 12 and 10 digs, respectively.

Centralia (3-1) will jump into 2A EvCo play with a pair of road matches next week, traveling to Shelton on Tuesday before making the quick trip to Chehalis on Thursday.