ADNA — Wednesday night in the 2B District 4 semifinals against Toutle Lake was a long time coming for the Napavine volleyball team.
A year removed from a disappointing first round defeat in this same tournament with a team that featured no seniors or juniors, the Tigers walked off the court at Adna High School with a state berth clinched, and a five-set win over the Ducks to advance to the district championship, 25-11, 25-18, 19-25, 13-25, 15-13.
“It’s a great feeling, two years ago we qualified but didn’t get to go, last year we were really young, so for these girls to develop like they did is amazing,” Tigers coach Monica Dailey said. “They work hard for me, they do what I ask and I ask a lot. They’re a great group of kids, I couldn't be more blessed to coach them.”
Building up a two-set lead before letting the Ducks crawl back into the game to force a fifth set, the Tigers were on the brink, down 13-8 and lost points away from a trip to the consolation bracket.
Enter Keira O’Neill, who contributed to just about each of the final seven points for Napavine to punch its first trip back to the state tournament since 2017.
O’Neill finished with 15 kills and six block kills, and senior teammate Morgan Hamilton added five aces, 26 digs, and a team-high 21 kills on the night.
“We call her our beast and Morgan is our horse, so we fed the beast and rode the horse,” Dailey said of O’Neill and Hamilton. “They did their jobs and got us back in the game.”
After building up a two set lead, and in mostly dominant fashion, 25-11 and 25-19, the Tigers let off the gas a bit in the third set and began scrambling when Toutle Lake finally picked up some momentum.
After settling back in during timeouts and getting back to what worked in the first and second sets, the Tigers built up a two-point lead in the fifth set before falling behind by five late.
“We let up and we can’t do that,” Dailey said. “You play with the mouse long enough and the mouse is going to slip away, but I’m proud that we came back.”
Grace Gall had 100% serving with 21 digs, Emily Kang added 12 digs, and Jessie McCoy and Avery Schutz combined for 39 assists at the setter spots. McCoy also had 15 digs and Schutz had 13.
The win propels the Tigers to a district title matchup against Kalama on Saturday, tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. at Raymond High School.
