ADNA — It required every ounce of sweat, tears and literal blood to get it done, but the Toledo Riverhawks went the distance to defeat Mossyrock Saturday afternoon to clinch the program’s first state bid since 2003.
Toledo, beat up and exhausted, survived numerous rallies from the Vikings and overcame injuries and a late bloody nose for Lexi Young, who recorded the final kill to send the Riverhawks into a frenzy in celebration.
Ellie Fallon, Toledo’s star sophomore outside hitter, crumpled to her knees in joy when the ball hit the court on Mossyrock’s side for the final time. Her dominant effort (22 kills, 19 digs) was made even more impressive by the fact that she was battling a nagging shin splint in her right leg.
In between sets, trainers helped Fallon stretch her leg before she went right back to work to dominate some more.
“We finally did it. We made it,” Fallon said of her thoughts in the waning moments. “It just feels really good, and we’ve worked really hard. We’ve put in the hours that nobody sees.”
Those hours and repetitions in the gym couldn’t have prepared Toledo for the mental gymnastics that the match presented. In the first set, Mossyrock led 23-18 in a back-and-forth game that resulted in Toledo finishing on a 9-2 run to steal the opening frame 27-25.
Mossyrock, through some incredible defense and dominance at the net, pulled away in the second set 25-16 thanks to a 12-3 sprint that snapped a 13-13 tie. Fallon took over in the third set, recording at least 10 of her 22 kills in the frame alone, along with an ace. Additionally, Abby Umbriaco gave Toledo a lift with several service aces.
Before the fourth set began, Fallon used the gym wall to stretch her leg, grimacing slightly in discomfort. Her teammates cheered her on when she came back into the huddle.
“It feels good to be loved,” Fallon said.
Mossyrock led wire to wire in the fourth set, fueled by an unstoppable Kendall Cournyer and some unforced errors by Toledo. The Vikings started on a 7-1 tear before Toledo chipped away and crawled to as close as two points. Mossyrock erupted on an 11-2 run to take command.
With 15 points to go for a state berth, the stars for both teams came to play, with Fallon and Cournyer punishing the opposing defense. Toledo took a 6-5 lead before the game was stopped due to Young’s bloody nose, and she briefly exited. She came back into the game to serve with Toledo holding an 8-6 advantage, and she helped them maintain the lead for the rest of the frame and ultimately the match.
“I was just panicking, and I wanted to be back out there,” Young said of the bloody nose. “We’ve all been playing together since sixth grade. We’ve got a strong bond. A lot of us do stuff outside of school.”
Toledo (17-4) bounced back from a nightmare district semifinal against Toutle Lake on Wednesday, when it suffered its first three-set loss of the season. The Riverhawks played with a more aggressive mindset against the Vikings and played together through adversity, injuries and emotions, head coach Kelli Larson said.
“They’re very young, and so sometimes when things don’t go our way, it kind of shakes us a bit,” she said. “We’ve always been more of a roller coaster team. But I was very proud of them today. They pushed through together.”
In particular, two of the team’s youngest players Young and Fallon pushed through when the lights were at their brightest. Larson said the duo brought experience, calmness and poise in the clutch.
“Those two girls, with their experience playing club, they not only continue to play hard through their mistakes, but they work really well together to talk to each other and to give suggestions on where to hit the ball,” Larson said. “Ellie especially is very vocally encouraging to the rest of the team. There’s never any anger. It’s always positive.”
Young ranked second on the team with seven kills and added five digs. Sidney Kruger dished out 37 assists.
Toledo finished fourth in the district tournament after falling in four sets to Onalaska.
Mossyrock finishes the season with a 10-10 record and graduates only three seniors — Taylor Schwartz, Adyson Barrows and Leah Contreras. Head coach Alex Nelson wants this loss to sting for her returners and use it as a memory when they compete in what promises to be a loaded Central 2B League next year.
“It’s a game of mistakes, and it’s about how you recover from them. We’ve had plenty of games this year where in games four and five, we struggle to put the ball away and we stop playing hard,” Nelson said. “But I was proud of the girls. We really fought back. I’m proud of the seniors.”
Cournyer finished with a team-high 18 kills, while Barrows tacked on a dozen kills and four aces.
