Rallying in the final two sets, Elma captured the undisputed Evergreen 1A League volleyball championship with another five-set win over Hoquiam.
Elma won 18-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-18, 15-10, Tuesday night at Hoquiam Square Garden in a match that featured a lot of long rallies and defensive scrambling for both teams. The match closely mirrored the first five-set match Elma won against Hoquiam earlier this season.
The victory enabled the Eagles (7-0, 12-1) to clinch the top seed in the league standings.
Elma head coach Kendra Henry said she liked the way her team battled back from adversity.
“They had really good mental toughness. They do a really good job of keeping it together and playing hard as a team,” she said. “I’m obviously very proud of how they played because we had those ups and downs and we were able to come out strong.”
Despite falling short against Elma for the second time this season, Hoquiam head coach Heather Bozich gave credit to Elma’s defensive play and said she was proud of how her team battled.
“We didn’t play within the system tonight but we did a lot with the ball while out of the system,” she said. “Elma tracked everything down and I think that was the difference in the game but we went five with them and you can’t ask for much more.”
Ana Perez was a big part of Elma’s defensive effort, coming away with 31 digs.
Hoquiam came out strong in the first set and took advantage of some early-match miscues from the Eagles. The Grizzlies (4-3, 7-7) played solid defense at the net and won on a side-out to take the first game.
The second set was even closer with the teams deadlocked at 20 as both teams went on runs without ever pulling too far out of reach. Kali Rambo got the final kill to put the Eagles over the top to tie the score at one set apiece.
The third set featured a fast start from the Grizzlies as they proceeded to jump out to a 17-7 lead. The Eagles responded after the brief break and pulled within a few points of the Grizzlies.
The Eagles went on a 5-0 run at one point but Hoquiam’s Carsyn Munger put an end to the comeback and had the final kill to give the Grizzlies a one-set advantage.
Elma did a much better job of taking control of the pace of play and forced Hoquiam into some mistakes as they opened up a wide lead early on in the set. Kenna Stoney had the kill to end the game and send the match into a decisive fifth set. Stoney had 19 kills and 19 digs on the evening.
Elma’s momentum carried over into the fifth set with the Eagles playing a relatively mistake-free set to complete the victory and cement their spot atop the league.
There were some standouts on the stat sheet in the loss for Hoquiam. RaeLynn Dunn had 30 digs and Kamimi Papp had 20 kills to go along with 18 digs.
Henry gave credit to Hoquiam for playing them tough and said her players belief in each other helped them come out on top in the end.
“We believe in each other,” she said. “Its just kind of a mental thing for us and they did a really good job of pulling through and having that mental toughness. Hoquiam did a really good job tonight and they are very well coached team.”
Elma will take on Forks at home on Thursday to close out the regular season. Hoquiam travels to Forks the same night.
