Montesano’s shot at a district title slipped away as we review Wednesday’s district-volleyball tournament action on the Harbor.
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Montesano 3, Seton Catholic 2
Montesano battled back from down 2-1 to earn a 3-2 victory over Seton Catholic in the first round of the 1A District 4 Tournament on Wednesday at Hoquiam High School.
The Bulldogs (14-3 overall) won the first set 25-21 before running into trouble in sets two and three, falling 25-20 and 25-14 as Monte struggled against the hard-hitting Cougars (9-8).
The Bulldogs battled back to sweep the last two sets 25-20 and 15-9.
“I am proud of the way the girls battled tonight against Seton. It is hard to lose two sets in a row and come back from that, but they did,” Monte head coach Cindy Wecker said. “They had a couple of really strong servers who killed us. … The girls got a lot of touches on the ball and did a pretty good job slowing the ball down against Seton.”
Monte had 47 kills, 117 digs and 10 stuff blocks while missing just four serves as a team.
Senior setter Karissa Otterstetter (36 assists, 24 digs, 6 aces, 4 blocks) and senior hitter Kalia Hatton (21-21 service, 27 digs, 19 kills) led the Bulldogs, which also got 21 digs from libero Bentley Warne and 15 kills from middle blocker Kylee Wisdom.
With the victory, Montesano advanced to the district semifinals.
Seton Catholic 21 25 25 20 9 – 2
Montesano 25 20 14 25 15 – 3
Leading players: Montesano – Warne (21 digs); Robinson (8-9 service, 15 digs, 4 kills, 2 blocks); Otterstetter (22-23 service, 6 aces, 24 digs, 7 kills, 36 assists, 4 blocks); Blancas (6-6 service, 12 digs); Gooding (11-12 service, 5 digs, 2 kills); Perry (dig); Wisdom (14-14 service, 6 digs, 15 kills, assist); Hatton (21-21 service, ace, 27 digs, 19 kills, assist, 2 blocks); Prince (13-13 service, 2 aces, 6 digs, 3 assists, 2 blocks).
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Stevenson 3, Montesano 0
Montesano ran into trouble and ran out of gas in a straight-set district-semifinal loss to Stevenson on Wednesday in Hoquiam.
Having just finished a five-set marathon against Seton Catholic, Monte (14-4) struggled against Stevenson (16-3) with a berth in the state tournament and district final at stake.
Montesano lost by scores of 25-20, 25-12 and 25-14, running out of energy down the stretch against an agile, heavy-hitting Stevenson squad.
“We knew Stevenson was going to be tough, but I think we all had hopes of putting up a better fight. Stevenson hits the heck out of the ball and with our blockers struggling to get a hand on the ball, their hits were very difficult to defend,” Monte head coach Cindy Wecker said. “We also struggled on serve-receive, which took away our attack. When we did get a good pass up and would attack, we would gain some ground, but that was just too few and far between. I think after going five sets with Seton that took a toll on the girls, they were pretty exhausted.”
Senior hitter Kalia Hatton had 15 kills and senior Liv Robinson recorded 17 digs to lead Monte.
With the loss, Montesano is out of contention for a district title and will face Kalama in an elimination game at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Castle Rock High School.
Stevenson 25 25 25 – 3
Montesano 20 12 14 – 0
Leading players: Montesano – Broten (dig); Warne (8 digs); Robinson (2-2 service, 17 digs, kill); Otterstetter (6-7 service, ace, 8 digs, kill, 15 assists, block); Blancas (7 digs); Gooding (3-4 service, ace, 3 digs, 2 kills); Perry (2-4 service, 2 digs, 2 kills); Wisdom (13-13 service, ace, 3 digs, kill); Hatton (5-5 service, 9 digs, 15 kills, block); Prince (10-10 service, assist, 2 blocks).
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Onalaska 3, Raymond-South Bend 1
Raymond-South Bend’s season came to an end with a 3-1 loss in a 2B District elimination game on Wednesday at South Bend High School.
The Ravens (8-6) needed extra points to take the first set 28-26 before dropping the next three 25-16, 25-14 and 25-23 to the Loggers (14-6).
“We did some great things, but in the end we were our own worst enemy,” RSB head coach Julie Jewell said. “In Set 2, we missed too many serves. Communication errors cost us points at key times, especially in Set 4. We were ahead 21-15 in Game 4, had some dropped balls, started playing tight and let the game slip away. We were so close and it was a loss that stung quite a bit. We played much better than in our last game and I’m glad that our season ended with us competing at a high level.”
Senior setter Berklee Morley (16-16 service, 4 aces, 18 assists) and junior middle blocker Kassie Koski (13-14 service, 11 kills, 10 digs) led the Ravens.
Onalaska 26 25 25 25 – 3
RSB 28 16 14 23 – 1
Leading players: RSB – Morley (16-16 service, 4 aces, 18 assists); Delgado (2 assists, 6-7 service, 13 digs); Baugher (9 kills, 6 assists, 4 digs); Koski (13-14 service, 11 kills, 10 digs); Howell (2 kills, 2 digs); Pine (14-16 service, ace, 4 kills, 8 digs); Enlow (6 kills, 7 digs); Stigall (3 digs); Stepp (14-15 service, 2 aces, 4 digs).
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Other games
1A District 4 Tournament
King’s Way Christian 3, Hoquiam 0
Kalama 3, Hoquiam 1 (Hoquiam eliminated)
2B District 4 Tournament
Toutle Lake 3, North Beach 0 (North Beach eliminated)