Jr. Hi Volleyball ends season with loss

ASOTIN–The Pomeroy Junior High A volleyball team finished its short season with a 1-3 record with a loss to Asotin on June 2, 25-20, 25-22, 15-9.

The Pirate A Squad opened the season with a win over Asotin, lost to Endicott and Colfax, and wrapped with the loss to Asotin.

"Our girls competed well against Asotin in our last match and our stats showed our improvement," said Coach Adam Van Vogt. "We had more digs in this game than in any of the other three matches we played and we had our best serve percentage of the season at 86%, which is really good for a junior high team.

"We had a lot of good rallies and played good volleyball, but ultimately fell a couple points short each game," he said.

Leaders on the court were Allyson Shaffer with 2 digs, 1 kill, 9 for 10 serving with 3 aces; Atalya Mitchell with 2 assists, 2 kills, 8 for 9 serving with an ace; Sadie Klaveano with 4 digs and a kill; and Olivia Cooper with 4 digs and 3 for 4 serving with an ace.

Other players who played were Isabella Field, Michealle DeBord, Grace Hart, Hailey Reisinger, Carmen Fruh, Elisabeth Carroll and Caroline McKeirnan.

At home May 27, Colfax won 25-8, 25-20, 25-12.

Leading in stats were Allyson Shaffer with 4 digs, 1 kill, 6 for 7 serving with an ace; Atalya Mitchell with 3 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill, 5 for 7 serving with 3 aces; Elisabeth Carroll with 2 kills, 2 digs; Carmen Fruh with 1 kill, 1 block, 7 for 7 serving with 2 aces; and Hailey Reisinger with 8 for 8 serving with 3 aces. Other players who played: Olivia Cooper, Sadie Klaveano, Michealle DeBord, Kendyll Potoshnik, Caroline McKeirnan.

Pomeroy was missing a couple players and faced a Colfax team of eighth graders who "knew the game well," he said. The Pirates were soundly beaten in the first set, but came back competitive in the second.

"I was very proud of how we didn't get down on ourselves and played well in game 2," Van Vogt said. "Missing some girls is tough but it presents opportunities for other girls and I was very pleased to watch some of them grow during this game. Olivia Cooper is doing a great job of passing and Atalya Mitchell had some amazing digs and passes, too. Sadie Klaveano had some really good passes and covered for tips well too. Carmen Fruh came up as a sixth grader against a team of eighth graders and competed very well, filling up the stat sheet and giving us a spark with her serving and net play."

At Endicott, SJE won 24-26, 25-14, 15-8.

Stat leaders were Caroline McKeirnan with 2 kills and 2 assists; Allyson Shaffer with 4 digs, 2 kills, 9 for 9 serving with 4 aces; Isabella Field with 2 digs, 2 kills, 8 for 9 serving with 4 aces; and Atalya Mitchell with 5 digs, 2 kills, 6 for 6 serving with 2 aces.

Other players who played: Olivia Cooper, Sadie Klaveano, Michealle DeBord, Grace Hart, Hailey Reisinger, Carmen Fruh, Elisabeth Carroll.

"We did it well in game 1 vs. SJE and came away with a hard-fought win against a more experienced team," Van Vogt said. "Unfortunately, we didn't do it as well in games 2 and 3 and the difference in performance was noticeable to the girls afterwards. That being said, we did some really good things in SJE, got a win, and learned valuable lessons. Isabella Field and Allyson Shaffer did a good job leading through their play. They put up great stats, hustle plays, and the younger girls followed their lead, especially in game 1.

"We were a young team, with only three eighth graders on the "A" team, but, in the long run, this will benefit us," Van Vogt said. "Our eighth graders–Isabella Field, Allyson Shaffer, and Elisabeth Carroll–all showed big improvement from last season and did a great job of leading this young team. All of the seventh and sixth graders that got playing time this year will come back with experience that will serve them well next year."

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