ROCHESTER — Deep into the third set of its matchup against Rochester, Napavine trailed by four. The Tigers had taken the first two sets, but the Warriors were building momentum and looking to extend the game.
Napavine coach Monica Dailey didn’t call a timeout, but she called out to her team from the bench.
“Just reminding them that we need to play to our level,” Dailey said. “We need to have high energy and use aggressive words when we’re calling the ball and talking about what the play is going on.”
That callout sparked a Tiger comeback to finish the set, as they scored nine of the matches’ final ten points to finish off a 25-16, 25-18, 25-21 sweep and start their season 1-0.
It wasn’t a dominant sweep from start to finish, but there were flashes of dominance from Napavine, including that final run.
The Tigers (1-0) ended the first set on a 9-4 run, and after the Warriors scored the first three points of the second, Napavine responded with eight straight points to force a Rochester timeout.
“It’s a work in progress, the consistency,” Dailey said. “But it’s super exciting to see where we are right now.”
The upperclassmen led the way, as Kennedy Purvis tallied seven aces, seven kills, and a block kill, while Lilly Blair logged nine assists and four kills. Holly Brockmueller tallied five aces and three assists, and Kendall Kelly finished the night with five kills and a block kill.
Dailey also commended Lillian Grabinowski, who “did a really good job being a strong leader” in the back. She finished with 11 digs and 10 “good serve receives.”
Outside of those five, there’s some youth, including two sophomores and two freshmen, but Dailey is confident in the girls she has.
“We have a lot of youth on the bench,” Dailey said. “We also have a lot of new faces that have not seen varsity time at all. That’s exciting also. They’re doing a really good job of coming in and doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Rochester (1-1) is also a young group, as the Warriors have just two seniors and three juniors.
Rochester coach Courtney Baird says that some of the mistakes that the Warriors made tonight can be attributed to growing pains.
“I think confidence comes with time and experience on the court,” Baird said. “Right now, we just don’t have that.”
Baird noted that the Warriors played their best when down 2-0, which helped them have that late lead.
“We get stuck in this serve receive, and it’s just point after point after point, and then we just kind of spiral,” Baird said. “We need to be able to turn it around and not get stuck in those ruts. It’s a game of mistakes. And once you make a mistake, you just gotta be able to move on and be ready for the next ball , or the mistakes are just going to tumble and tumble.”
Taelynn Quarles led the defensive effort with 15 digs, while Lexi DuPont added six kills, Charlie Culp dished out six assists, and Karmae Hines finished with four aces.
The Warriors will look to get back in the win column on Thursday at Centralia.
Napavine will head to Kalama on Wednesday before heading to Yakima for the SunDome Volleyball Festival on Friday.
The Tigers will face Cashmere, Darrington, and Overlake in shortened matches in pool play. It’s the same courts that, if things go to plan, they’ll be playing on in mid-November
“It’s a good environment to get the girls in there playing,” Dailey said. “So when we make it to state the atmosphere is not new to them. It’s something that they already feel comfortable with.”
