Montesano and Willapa Valley volleyball teams advanced to their respective state playoffs as Twin Harbors teams competed in district tournaments this past weekend.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Kaila Hatton, left, receives a serve while teammate Grace Gooding looks on during the Bulldogs’ 3-0 win over Hoquiam in a 1A District 4 elimination game on Saturday in Vancouver.

1A District 4 Tournament

Montesano 3, Hoquiam 0

Montesano advanced to a winner-to-state elimination game with a 3-0 victory over Hoquiam in a 1A District 4 Tournament game on Saturday at King’s Way Christian High School in Vancouver.

The Bulldogs (13-7 overall) won by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 26-24 to advance to the tournament’s third-place game and eliminated the Grizzlies (12-7) from the postseason.

Montesano was led by junior setter Karissa Otterstetter, who had 10 digs and a game-high 30 assists.

Sophomore defensive specialist Bentley Warne led the Bulldogs with 22 digs while hitters Jillie Dalan and Kaila Hatton had 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

Hoquiam 21 18 24 – 0

Montesano 25 25 26 – 3

Leading players: Montesano – Robinson (15-16 service, 2 aces, 21 digs, 3 kills, 3 blocks); Warne (22 digs); Otterstetter (12-13 service, ace, 10 digs, 3 kills, 30 assists, 3 blocks); Gooding (15-15 service, ace, 7 digs, kill, 2 assists); Wisdom (9-10 service, 5 digs, 9 kills, assist, block); Hatton (13-13 service, 13 digs, 10 kills, block); Dalan (6-7 service, 4 digs, 11 kills, block).

Montesano 3, Castle Rock 2

Montesano advanced to the state tournament with a five-set victory over Castle Rock in the 1A District 4 Tournament third-place game on Saturday at King’s Way Christian High School in Vancouver.

Monte won 23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 10-25 and 15-12 for it’s second five-set victory over the Rockets (8-11) in the tournament.

The Bulldogs got huge games from Kaila Hatton (19 kills, 17 digs), Karissa Otterstetter (31 assists, 20 digs) and Liv Robinson (28-29 service, 34 digs) to earn a spot in the 1A State Tournament.

“The girls showed up today ready to play. Everyone had a job to do and they got it done,” Monte head coach Cindy Wecker said. “With Otterstetter running our offense and Hatton hitting the heck out of the ball we were able to punch our ticket to state. It truly was a team effort. We are so proud of every one of these girls.”

Montesano enters the state playoff as a No. 16 seed and will face No. 1 Chelan in the first round at 10:45 a.m. on Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Castle Rock 25 23 16 25 12 – 2

Montesano 23 25 25 10 15 – 3

Leading players: Montesano – Warne (22 digs); Robinson (28-29 service, 2 aces, 34 digs, 3 kills); Otterstetter (15-18 service, 6 aces, 20 digs, 2 kills, 31 assists, block); Gooding (6-8 service, 2 aces, 9 digs); Wallace (10-10 service, 8 digs, 2 kills); Wisdom (12-12 service, ace, 10 digs, 8 kills, 3 blocks); Hatton (14-14 service, 17 digs, 19 kills, block); Dalan (6-7 service, 8 digs, 6 kills, 4 blocks).

1B District 4 Tournament

Willapa Valley 3, Naselle 0

Willapa Valley advanced to the 1B District 4 Tournament third-place game with a straight-set victory over Naselle on Saturday at Montesano High School.

The Vikings (13-8) won by scores of 26-24, 25-21 and 25-19 over the Rockets (12-9).

Vikings setters Samantha Sheary and Lauren Matlock recorded 11 assists each while middle blocker Paislee Hurley led Willapa Valley with seven kills in the victory.

“We hadn’t beaten Naselle all season long, so we knew coming into it that it was going to be a tough game,” Willapa Valley head coach Chelsea Kempton said. “We tried to prepare the girls that whoever came out and had the fight and the most heart was going to be successful. They pushed really hard and were dialed in. They performed really well and the chemistry was there. Everything really clicked.”

Willapa Valley 26 25 25 – 3

Naselle 24 21 19 – 0

Leading players: Willapa Valley – Sheary (5 aces, 5 kills, 2 blocks, 11 assists); Matlock (ace, 3 kills, 11 assists); Neva (ace, 17 digs); Channell (13 digs, 4 kills); Hurley (7 kills); Borden (3 kills, 2 blocks); Hodel (2 kills).

Willapa Valley 3, Taholah 2

Willapa Valley advanced to the 1B State Tournament with a victory over Taholah in five sets in the district tournament third-place game on Saturday in Montesano.

The Vikings won by scores of 14-25, 25-19, 25-7, 18-25 and 15-4 over the Chitwhins (12-7).

Rilyn Channell led Willapa Valley in the all-important fifth and final set by serving six straight points to make it a 13-2 score.

The Vikings closed out the set on a Taholah illegal touch of the ball.

With the victory, Willapa Valley advanced to the state tournament and eliminated Taholah from postseason play.

“Our game approach was to bring that momentum, intensity and chemistry we had against Naselle,” Willapa Valley head coach Chelsea Kempton said. “Obviously, we got off to a slow start. We kind of made some mental errors, but we found our groove again in the second and third sets.”

Kempton said the grueling schedule of playing two games that started six hours apart on Saturday nearly took its toll on her team, but the Vikings persevered to pull through.

“By the fourth set, it was almost 10 o’clock at night and we’d been playing volleyball for almost 10 straight hours,” she said. “We really had to fight past fatigue, but the girls really wanted it and stepped up their game big.”

Sheary (12 digs, 11 assists) and Lauren Matlock (10 digs, 10 assists) each had double-doubles for Willapa Valley while Alana Neva had a team-high 26 digs to lead the Vikings defense.

“Seeing them reap the rewards for being resilient through (the tournament) was really rewarding to see as a coach,” Kempton said. “All you can ask for is them to come out and play their very best and I truly believed they did that. It was very exciting and I’m super-proud of them.”

Willapa Valley will enter the state tournament as the No. 17 seed in the 1B class and will face No. 16 DeSales in an elimination game at 8 a.m. on Wednesday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Willapa Valley 14 25 25 18 15 – 3

Taholah 25 19 7 25 4 – 2

Leading players: Willapa Valley – Sheary (12 digs, 11 assists); Channell (4 aces, 15 digs, 4 kills); Matlock (3 aces, 10 digs, 2 kills, 10 assists); Hodel (2 aces, 15 digs, 2 kills); Neva (26 digs); Hurley (5 digs, 8 kills, 3 blocks); Borden (2 blocks).

JOSH KIRSHENBAUM | THE CHRONICLE Aberdeen Annika Hollingsworth sends a ball over the net during a four-set loss to Black Hills in a loser-out match at the 2A District 4 Tournament on Saturday in Tumwater.

Other scores

Black Hills 3, Aberdeen 1