MONTESANO — Once they turned on the power midway through each set, Montesano’s volleyballers were unstoppable.
Jordan Spradlin smashed 18 kills and Shayla Floch added 10 kills and three blocks as the Bulldogs remained unbeaten by trouncing Hoquiam, 25-10, 25-12, 25-14, in an Evergreen 1A League volleyball contest Tuesday night at Bo Griffith Memorial Gym.
This was the latest renewal of an intense rivalry that, in recent years, has decided the league championship. But, having sustained much less significant graduation losses from a year ago, Montesano (3-0, 9-0) entered Tuesday’s match as a substantial favorite.
Doing a good job of picking up Bulldog spikes, Hoquiam (1-1, 3-6) hung tough for the early stages of each set, only to be eventually overwhelmed by Monte’s superior firepower.
Bulldog coach Debbie Gibson called this her team’s second straight strong outing after what she considered a disappointing performance in a win over Elma last week.
“They’re coming out with a lot more enthusiasm, a lot more energy and a lot more team unity,” Gibson said. “We served really well tonight, hitting our areas really well.”
Junior setter Hannah Hatcher served four aces in addition to dishing out 27 assists. Senior Josie Toyra put all 18 of her serves into play, while libero Josie Talley had 11 digs for the Bulldogs.
Montesano also received a good hitting night from senior Hailee Dierks, who delivered six kills.
Junior Kamimi Papp topped Hoquiam with nine kills. Setter Paige Folkers had 10 assists and libero Ashley Paladin 10 digs. The Grizzlies, however, suffered from inconsistent passing.
Hoquiam coach Heather Bozich gave her club mixed reviews.
“Our serve-receive could have been better,” she said. “We did the tough things well and the easy things not so well, which is frustrating. We need to work on our transition game a little bit and we’ll be OK.”
Despite decent starts to each set, the Grizzlies led only in the second stanza.
They were up 7-5 before Spradlin’s stuff block gave Monte a side-out. Toyra then served six straight points, aided by a pair of Spradlin kills, to put Monte in command.
Hatcher closed out the set in style with three consecutive aces.
Montesano never trailed in the third set.
Karlie Krohn’s kill pulled the Grizzlies to within two, at 13-11. A missed serve, however, ignited a 10-2 Bulldog spurt that included three Spradlin kills (one after an outstanding dig by Talley).
Following a Dierks kill, Hoquiam hit long on match point.
Krohn was cited by Grizzly coaches for her passing.
Montesano took the JV match, 25-15, 25-12, while the Grizzlies prevailed in the C squad contest, 25-13, 25-19.
On Thursday, Hoquiam returns home to face Elma while the Bulldogs make the long trek to Forks.
