Aberdeen came up far short in a matchup against first-place Tumwater as we review Thursday’s prep sports on the Harbor.
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PREP VOLLEYBALL
Tumwater 3, Aberdeen 0
Not much went right for Aberdeen in its most impactful game in several decades.
Facing Tumwater in a battle for the league championship, the Bobcats fell flat in a straight-set loss on Thursday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.
The Bobcats (11-4 overall, 8-2 2A Evergreen) struggled to get anything going in the 25-19, 25-14 and 25-16 loss to the Thunderbirds (14-2, 10-0).
“(Tumwater) sped up their offense big time and just worked us everywhere,” Aberdeen head coach Desiree Glanz said of the loss. “They put it were we weren’t and it frazzled us. … They knew how to work us and targeted our weak passers tonight. They knew exactly who they were going to serve to and that got in our heads.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen seniors Lilly Camp (12) and Ashlyn Richie defend a shot by Tumwater’s Chloe Henderson (1) during a 3-0 loss on Thursday at Aberdeen High School.
Aberdeen’s best moments came in the first set when down by 11 points, the Bobcats rallied to claw to within two points at 19-17 on the back of a long service streak by senior middle blocker Lilly Camp, forcing a Tumwater timeout.
Aberdeen managed to trim the deficit to 19-18 on a block by junior Hadley Lowery, but the T-Birds outscored the Cats 6-1 down the stretch, capitalizing on Aberdeen errors to take the first set 25-19.
Tied at 5-5 early in the second set, Tumwater pulled away to take a 15-9 lead and eventually scored seven of the game’s final eight points to go up 2-0.
The third set was much of the same, with the two teams tied at 7-7 before the T-Birds began to pull away, thanks in large part to their offense forcing Aberdeen’s defense to move side to side combined with Bobcats errors, mostly in the service and passing game.
“Our passers were not on tonight. We did not pass well or do well in serve-receive,” Glanz said. “It’s the basics. … We cannot make mistakes. Missing serves at crucial points after a long rally, that’s not OK. So we’ve got to clean things up.”
Aberdeen committed seven service errors in the game and 17 serve-reception errors, preventing the Bobcats from getting into a rhythm offensively.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen libero Sophie Knutson (right) digs a Tumwater shot while teammate Zoe Vessey looks on during a 3-0 loss to Tumwater on Thursday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen had just three aces and 16 kills in the game. By contrast, Tumwater recorded 17 aces and hammered 32 well-placed kills.
While the regular-season finale did not end how they had hoped, with a potential league championship slipping away, Aberdeen’s second-place finish and 11-4 record are the best for the Bobcats volleyball program in several decades.
“I told them to be proud of our season up to this point, and let’s forget this game,” Glanz said. “But if we plan to continue on to the next level, these are the teams we’re facing. So we need to start working.”
Aberdeen will play the Greater St. Helen’s League No. 3 seed Mark Morris in the 2A District 4 Tournament at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Woodland High School.
Tumwater 25 25 25 – 3
Aberdeen 19 14 16 – 0
Leading players: Aberdeen – Vessey (3 digs, ace), Scott (dig), McCombs (kill, 5 digs), Williams (kill), Hallak (15 assists, 9 digs, kill), Richie (3 kills, dig), Schimelpfenig (6 digs, ace), Camp (7 kills, 2 digs), Knutson (kill, 13 digs, ace), Alavez (6 digs), Ritter (kill), Lowery (2 blocks).
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Forks 3, Raymond-South Bend 0
Raymond-South Bend lost its regular-season finale to Forks 3-0 on Wednesday in Forks.
The Ravens (8-6 overall, 5-2 2B Pacific) lost 25-23, 25-12 and 25-18 to the league-champion Spartans (12-3, 8-0) in a matchup of the league’s top two teams.
“It was a frustrating night in a lot of ways, but mostly because we didn’t play our best,” RSB head coach Julie Jewell said. “We would have momentum on our side and then make a series of small mistakes that would be our undoing. It just wasn’t our night.”
Junior Kassie Koski went 14 of 15 from the service line with four aces, 10 digs and eight blocks to lead the Ravens.
RSB will enter the 2B District Tournament as the Pacific League’s No. 2 seed and will face Central League No. 3 seed Rainier at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Adna.
RSB 23 12 18 – 0
Forks 25 25 25 – 3
Leading players: RSB – Stepp (8-8 service, 5 digs), Baugher (11-11 service, ace, 6 digs, 4 kills, 7 assists, 4 blocks), Morley (7-8 service, ace, 7 assists), Koski (14-15 service, 4 aces, 10 digs, 5 kills, 8 blocks), Delgado (5-6 service, 7 digs, assist), Pine (kill, 3 digs), Enlow (2 digs, 2 kills), Stigall (2-3 service, 2 digs).
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Willapa Valley 3, Pe Ell 2
Willapa Valley earned a 3-2 victory over Pe Ell on Wednesday at Pe Ell High School.
The Vikings (11-5) beat the Trojans (10-7) by scores of 20-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-13 and 15-7 in the non-league matchup.
“Really proud of this team who chose to bring tons of momentum to the court tonight. We’ve been working on moving past mistakes quickly and we felt they did a fantastic job of staying mentally tough in a five-set match,” Valley head coach Chelsea Kempton said. “Passing and serving were huge factors, we had to reset quickly a few times knowing Pe Ell can go on a run pretty quick if they get the opportunity. The girls showed a lot of heart tonight. We learned to battle until the very end and we’re going to need that mentality heading into districts next week.”
Willapa Valley enters the 1B District 4 Tournament as the 1B Coastal League’s No. 3 seed and will open district play at 6 p.m. on Monday (opponent, location to be determined).
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Willapa Valley 20 25 19 25 15 – 3
Pe Ell 25 18 25 13 7 – 2
Leading players: Willapa Valley – Hodel (7 aces, 4 kills, 2 digs), Neva (5 aces, 20 digs), Matlock (3 aces, 2 digs), Barnum (3 aces, 2 digs, 6 kills), Hurley (2 aces, 2 digs, 7 kills, 5 blocks), Sheary (2 aces, 2 digs, 3 assists), Ruddell (10 digs), Borden (3 digs, 2 kills, block), Channell (2 digs, 3 assists), Matlock (3 aces, 2 digs, 3 kills, 11 assists), Keeton (2 kills).
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GIRLS PREP SOCCER
Woodland 1, Aberdeen 0
(Woodland wins 4-3 on penalty kicks)
Aberdeen’s bid for a berth in the 2A District 4 Tournament ended with a penalty-kick shootout loss to Woodland on Thursday at Woodland High School.
The Bobcats (7-9-1) traded scoring chances with the Beavers (6-10-1) throughout the first half, missing on 1-on-1 opportunities by Shay Dunlap and Scotlyn Lecomte to keep the game scoreless at the half.
In the second 40 minutes of play, Aberdeen maintained better pressure into the Woodland half of the field.
Lecomte nearly put Aberdeen on the board when she hit a shot off the crossbar on a long free kick followed later in the half by a Dunlap header off a cross that was just wide of the far post.
With no team scoring in the second half or in both overtime periods, the game moved to a penalty-kick shootout.
Abby Mainio, Lecomte and Lila Ericksen converted their PK attempts, but two Aberdeen shots were blocked while another missed wide.
Aberdeen keeper Anni Devine saved one of the shots she faced while another Woodland attempt rang off the crossbar and out, but the Beavers edged the Cats 4-3 in the shootout to advance to the district tournament and end Aberdeen’s season.
“Great effort all match and we gave ourselves an excellent chance to get a win, we just didn’t make the shots when we had to, both during the game and in the shootout,” Aberdeen head coach Larry Fleming said. “Regardless, we finished a game away from districts with a very inexperienced squad and that worked hard each day to improve.”
Fleming commended the play of Devine, Lecomte, Joie Mayberry, Kendalynn Garman, Hana Lessard, Delaney Shoemaker and Alyssa Yakovich.
Woodland 0 0 0 0 – 1
Aberdeen 0 0 0 0 – 0
(Woodland wins 4-3 on penalty kicks)
