TOLEDO — Three years ago when Kelli Larson took over as Toledo High School’s head volleyball coach, she was met with a team that was junior-laden. They went 0-2 in the Class 2B District 4 tournament.
Another year under her system and the Riverhawks improved at the end, winning a game in districts. Now in year three, it is a dramatic reset for the program.
No seniors on the roster, an eighth grader in the starting lineup and one player that played heavy minutes last fall.
“Just trying to address what it is that we need to work on most,” Larson said.
Despite the overwhelming youth, Toledo held its own against Class 1A Hoquiam in three of the four sets, but it wasn’t enough in a 25-18, 22-25, 25-11, 25-19 victory by the Grizzlies on Wednesday night in Toledo.
Serve receive was a glaring conundrum for the majority of the night. More times than not, the Riverhawks (0-1) were out of system and allowing free points to Hoquiam.
The Grizzlies finished with 19 aces and of the 86 pass attempts by Toledo’s back line, they had 19 passing errors.
“It is early in the season,” Larson said. “When you make that jump from JV to varsity, the serving is so much different. It is going to take time.”
Still, there were some bright spots.
The Riverhawks jumped out of the gates quickly with a 7-1 lead in the opening set. They pulled away in the second set behind a 5-0 spree early and fended off a late Hoquiam push to knot the match at one set apiece.
Down 2-1 in the match and 21-12 in the fourth set, Toledo slowly chipped away and got as close as three, forcing a Grizzlies timeout. Hoquiam scored four of the final points to prevail in the non-league contest.
“We had a couple hitters finding where to hit the ball,” Larson said. “Their serves were very aggressive.”
The only set that was a route was the third. In the blink of an eye, the Riverhawks went from having momentum to being down as much as 14 points.
“I’ve been doing this a long time and it just seems like that’s how it goes,” Larson stated. “It just didn’t go our way. They had some really tough serves that we struggled with.”
Ellie Fallon stuffed the state sheet with 11 assists, 10 digs and seven kills. Lexi Young paced Toledo at the net with eight kills while Taysia Miller also recorded 10 digs.
Fallon, the lone player back in the fold after seeing the court plenty as an eighth grader, is one of two setters in the 6-2 system.
Larson is running a 6-2 this season, mainly to get eighth grader Sidney Kruger experience setting before transitioning to a 5-1 down the road.
Kruger registered 10 assists in her varsity debut.
“I’m hoping she continues to grow,” Larson said.
In a loaded C2BL with returning state qualifiers Adna, Rainier, Toutle Lake, newcomer Mossyrock and a bounty of others, the Riverhawks may take some lumps in the regular season. Even on Wednesday, Larson wasn’t timeout happy.
With everyone close in age, playing carefree volleyball may be a common theme.
“They’re very supportive of one another and I hope that continues to carry us forward,” Larson said. “They did not play tight tonight.”
