Hoquiam sent its seniors out in style with a 3-0 (25-3, 25-9, 25-17) win over Tenino in an Evergreen 1A League match at Hoquiam Square Garden on Thursday.
Coupled with Forks’ three-set win over Elma, the victory vaulted Hoquiam (4-4, 6-9) into a three-way tie for second in the league with Forks and Elma. Based on sets won in the meetings of the three teams, the Grizzlies won the tiebreakerand will open district competition next week as the Evergreen’s second seed.
They’ll face King’s Way Christian in a first-round match Wednesday at Castle Rock.
The Grizzlies (4-4, 6-9) trailed 2-1 just moments into the first set, but Hoquiam quickly shut the door on any thoughts the Beavers had of a win. Hoquiam went on a 24-1 run to claim the first set and didn’t trail the rest of the match.
“We took care of the ball on our side and passed the ball well,” Hoquiam coach Heather Bozich said. “It was nice to see everybody play well at the same time and play well as a team. They were excited to play tonight. Everybody was excited to get out here and put their best foot forward.”
Both ReyLynn Dunn and Kacey Pelan had runs of 11 serves in the first set, with Pelan adding two aces in the final five points and Dunn digging up a ball that fell just barely in for the final point. Dunn finished the match 25-for-26 serving, while Pelan had 12 assists and was 16-for-17 serving.
The Grizzlies gradually took control in the second set before closing it out with a 10-point run. Senior Paige Folkers served the final nine points with four aces coming in the final seven points. Folkers finished her last game in the Garden with 11 assists, while Hoquiam’s other senior Ashley Paladin had 13 digs.
“We tracked the ball well and made sure we were where we needed to be positionally,” Bozich said. “We played really good defense to keep with the momentum.”
Hoquiam started the third set with a 10-point run, capped with a kill from Kamimi Papp, who had nine kills in the game. The Beavers showed some fight late to close the margin to six, but the Grizzlies closed it out with a 3-point run to add an exclamation point to the evening.
Along with Papp’s offensive power, Karli Krohn added 12 kills for the Grizzlies.
