There’s just one birthday gift Hoquiam head coach Heather Bozich wanted from her team Tuesday: Beat Elma.
Using that as extra motivation, the Grizzlies played a relentless and inspired game, defeating the Eagles in straight sets at Hoquiam Square Garden.
“That was a fun birthday present,” said Bozich, who has been at the helm of the Hoquiam program for the past eight seasons and hasn’t defeated Elma since October of 2015. “This is up there. These girls are the nicest girls, and they are so deserving of this. … They work so hard and I am so proud of them.”
“Since it was our coach’s birthday, we wanted to get the win for her,” the Grizzlies’ senior outside hitter Sharaya Brydon said of the win. “We just really went out there and gave it our best.”
Hoquiam’s Kamryn Krohn serves while head coach Heather Bozich looks on in the background during a game against Elma on Tuesday in Hoquiam. Krohn had seven digs and three aces in the game. (Ryan Sparks | The Daily World)
Hoquiam’s tone for the evening was set in the first game, a back-and-forth affair that saw 13 ties and needed extra points to be determined. Tied at 21-all in the first set, the Grizzlies (4-2 overall) took a two-point lead on Elma miscues but saw the Eagles (3-3) rally back to tie the game at 23-23 on a Sarah Bridge block.
The Grizzlies would have two chances for game point slip through their paws as Elma rallied back to tie at 24-all and 25-all.
But buying into the team philosophy of never giving up on a play or a point, Hoquiam closed out the game 27-25 on a soft shot from Brydon.
While the first game might have indicated the match would turn out to be a five-set grudge match, Hoquiam had other ideas.
Tied at 16-16 in a second game where neither team could stretch a lead to more than three points, Hoquiam would score nine straight points with Ella Folkers serving, winning the game 25-16 on an Kristina Goulet kill followed by an Elma return into the net.
Facing the unfamiliar position of being down 2-0 for the third straight game, Elma came out in the third set and looked reminiscent of the Elma teams fans have grown accustomed to seeing under head coach Kendra Dunn.
Playing focused and energetic, Elma quickly took a 4-1 lead in the third game.
But the current version of the Grizzlies would not break, rallying to tie the score at 4-4 and never looked back as they would not lose the lead again.
A Chloe Kennedy kill gave Hoquiam a 20-9 lead before eventually closing out the set 25-12.
“We came out great that third set, with a lot of energy and that’s when we play best, when we have that energy and are communicating as a team,” Dunn said. “We had positive moments, we just couldn’t string them together.”
“It fells so good to finally get our victory (over Elma) after so long,” said Kennedy, who was a dominating presence on the court with a game-high nine kills and five blocks in the match. “We kept our energy up and we did not get down on ourselves. The quote is, ‘The score is always 0-0.’ Just have that mindset that we may be ahead, but don’t fall behind, stay ahead.”
Hailey Lawrence had a game-high 20 digs, with Brydon adding 19 digs for a Grizzlies team that defended well and made very few mistakes on the evening.
Setter Ella Folkers had an efficient 24 assists and led Hoquiam with four of the team’s 12 aces for the game.
“It was a tough match. Hoquiam played really well and did a great job of controlling the ball,” Dunn said. “On our side, we had a hard time controlling the ball, getting into our rhythm, being consistent and having that high energy throughout the match.”
Elma middle blocker Sarah Bridge (10) attempts a kill against Hoquiam’s Chloe Kennedy during a game on Tuesday at Hoquiam Square Garden. (Ryan Sparks | The Daily World)
Elma was led by Bridge (six kills), Kayla Aho (20 digs) and Ella Moore (17 assists).
“This is the team that when we started the season I knew that we could get to,” Bozich said, complimenting her senior leadership on nurturing confidence in the Grizzlies’ underclassmen. “I knew we had this in us. … We’ve been working on staying focused and playing hard throughout an entire point, and tonight they did that.”
Aberdeen 3, Rochester 2
Aberdeen rallied from down two games to defeat Rochester 3-2 on Senior Night in Aberdeen.
The Bobcats (2-6) fell behind 2-0 after losing the first two games 25-22 and 26-24 before rallying to win the next three straight 25-19, 25-21 and 15-7.
Senior Zayra Rodriguez (10 kills), Julizza Ambrocio-Felipe (13 digs) and Merryn Bruner (24 assists).
Aberdeen honored nine seniors on the evening, including Karla Hernandez and Kaitlynn Smith, who were lauded by head coach Desiree Glanz for making key contributions after an Aberdeen player went down with an injury.
“Such an exciting match and win for our seniors tonight,” Glanz said. “I am so proud of this team for pushing through and never giving up.”
Montesano 3, Tenino 0
Montesano remained undefeated on the season with a straight-set victory over host Tenino on Tuesday.
Monte (7-0) won 25-5, 25-13 and 25-6.
The Bulldogs also won an extra-play game 25-18.
Monte was led by Jessica Stanfield (10 kills), Ashlyn Devereaux (10 assists) and Hannah Tupper (5 aces).
Ocosta 3, South Bend 2
In arguably the most competitive prep volleyball match played in the Twin Harbors this season, Ocosta outlasted South Bend for a 3-2 victory on Tuesday in Westport.
Ocosta (3-4) won 25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25 and 20-18 in a match where both teams had multiple chances at match point.
Lillyan Barnum (13 kills, two aces), Brynn Rasmus (15 assists) and Alexia Bradley (seven solo blocks) led Ocosta.
“Tonight was a huge win for our young team,” Ocosta head coach Erin Snider said. “I want to be sure to give credit to the hustle and heart shown by every member of this team tonight.”
South Bend (5-2) was led by senior Kimberly Conner (18-18 service), Hannah Jewell (36 digs) and Raydynn Morley (12 kills).
Raymond 3, Forks 1
Raymond remained undefeated on the season with an 3-1 victory over Forks on Tuesday in Raymond.
The Seagulls (8-0) had a slow start, dropping the first game 25-21 before winning the next three 25-11, 25-21, and 25-13.
Raymond was led by Kyra Gardner (19 kills), Sidney Swogger (eight kills, four aces, 18 digs), Grace Busenius (five kills, two aces, 12 digs), Tegen Fleury (25 digs, three aces) and Caton Swogger (five kills, three blocks, three aces).
Raymond JV won 25-10 and 27-25.
