The Napavine volleyball team had to deal with some bad breaks – and, of course, the defending district champs – on the road Thursday, ultimately falling in three sets to Kalama, 25-15, 25-17, 25-16.
“I felt like the girls worked really hard tonight,” Napavine coach Monica Dailey said. “They tried to play smart. There were some calls that didn’t go our way that should have, but the girls kept their heads up. There were several situations where we were either ahead or tied and had them scrambling a bit, so that felt good. They’re such a powerhouse and they have so many weapons that it’s really hard to keep up, but I felt that we were hitting our stride with them.”
As Kalama was trying to hit its stride, Napavine showed up with its best blocking effort of the season. The Tigers sent back a season-high 11 stuffs, led by four each from junior Keira O’Neill and freshman Kennedy Purvis.
“I’m excited about that,” Dailey said. “Because if we’re getting those against a really fast-paced team, I’m excited what the next few weeks will look like.”
Morgan Hamilton had six kills, served 100%, and led the defense with 12 digs, doing a bit of everything for the Tigers. O’Neill added six kills to her blocks. Jessie McCoy served 100% and dished out 10 assists.
Emily Kang and Grace Gall also had perfect nights at the service line, the former also adding nine digs.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Dailey said. “I figured if I could get them to focus on scoring as many points as we could, it would take the focus off of who they were playing. I thought they did do a good job of that.”
Napavine will head west to Raymond next Monday.
