PREP VOLLEYBALL

Tacoma Community College 3, Grays Harbor College 1

Grays Harbor’s season came to a bitter end on Wednesday as the Chokers fell short with a playoff spot on the line.

The Chokers lost 3-1 to Tacoma by scores of 21-25, 25-13, 18-25 and 14-25 in front of the home crowd on Sophomore Night.

Grays Harbor came in with a one-game lead on Tacoma in the Northwest Athletic Conference standings and could have clinched a playoff spot with a win over the Titans.

Having to watch the road team celebrate on their home court wasn’t easy, but Chokers head coach Christine Nelson said she was still proud of the effort her players put in this season.

“We accomplished a lot of things. We just missed an opportunity at the end,” she said. “It wasn’t an unsuccessful season and they did a great job.”

Grays Harbor ended up making the first set close after initially falling behind 19-13. Nelson called a timeout to refocus her team, which appeared to work as the Chokers scored four straight points and limited the hitting errors.

Some of the positives from the first set carried over into the second where Grays Harbor cruised to the 25-18 win to tie the match.

Lelo Maeva and Naomi Harris had a strong second set and ended up leading the team with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.

Tacoma’s Kate Pestova made her presence felt with and gave the Chokers’ back row a hard time with 15 kills and two aces.

Petsova wasn’t on the court when Grays Harbor beat Tacoma 3-1 earlier in the season and Nelson wasn’t making any excuses after the loss.

“We knew what they were going to do, they just executed a little better than we did,” she said.

Grays Harbor’s Naomi Harris gets a kill on a shot down the sidelines against Tacoma on Wednesday at Grays Harbor Gym. Harris had 10 kills in the match. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)

For the seven sophomores who played their last game at Grays Harbor, Wednesday’s loss probably feels familiar. Last year’s team also missed the postseason by a game after losing to Tacoma. Though they couldn’t avenge last season’s loss, Nelson thinks the program is headed and the right direction and credits her sophomores for being part of the transformation.

“I’m just grateful for all our sophomores. They helped change our program and led us in a new direction,” she said. “They’re great players and hopefully they can go on and play and take what they learned here to be successful.”

With the win, Tacoma will now go in as the fourth seed in the NWAC Tournament.

GHC 21 25 18 14 – 1

Tacoma 25 18 25 25 – 3

Top Players: GHC – Lole Taumua (15 digs), Maeva (12 kills), Crimson Maafala (35 assists)