Lady Pirates bumped from State early, but they did not go quietly

YAKIMA–The plucky Lady Pirates bowed out of the 1B State Volleyball Tournament but not before giving it everything they had. Pomeroy went five sets in the opening match against Mt. Vernon Christian, dropping the fifth set by a close 16-14, then battled Darrington through four hard-fought sets but fizzled after rebounding from a first-set loss to win the second, before yielding to the Lady Loggers.

"It was disappointing to lose these matches, but sports seasons are about the journey and we had a great one," commented Head Coach Adam Van Vogt. "These girls had a very successful season overall. We went undefeated at our Border Battle tournament, we finished second from league, we went 19-9 on the season, and we advanced to state while making a lot of memories and having a lot of fun along the way."

The first match against Mt. Vernon Christian was "back-and-forth" with the Lady Pirates coming through in the clutch with a 27-25 win in the first set. But the Lady Hurricanes bounced back with a decisive 25-13 win to even up the count, 1-1.

The Lady Pirates then flew to a 25-20 win in the third set, poised to take the match. But MVC had other ideas and tied up the sets at 2-2 with a 25-15 fourth-set win. The Lady Hurricanes went on to squeak by 16-14 in the hair-raising fifth set, sending the Lady Pirates into the consolation bracket.

"This contest saw both teams come back time and again," Coach Van Vogt commented, "and we were in position to pull off the Game 5-win as we were up late.  However, Mt. Vernon Christian ultimately rattled off seven consecutive points to come back.

"We had multiple attacks but couldn't get a ball to drop and credit to them as any mistake could have given us the win late," Van Vogt said.

Next Pomeroy matched up with Darrington's Lady Loggers, falling 3-1.

"I was proud of how we came back mentally to compete after dropping the match earlier in the day but ultimately, we made too many unforced errors and were a little too inconsistent to beat Darrington on this night," Van Vogt said.

Against the Lady Hurricanes, Clara Jentz was strong at the net with 10 kills and five blocks. Haliee Brewer put on pressure with nine kills and she made five digs.

Jillian Herres counted an impressive 34 assists along with four kills, and libero Chase Caruso made 14 digs.

Jentz didn't disappoint in the Darrington match, hammering 15 kills and blocking four, finishing her high-school career well. Fellow senior outside hitter Kendall Dixon wasn't far behind with 11 kills, and her serving included four aces. Brewer had six kills and three digs.

Herres was again tops in assists with 39, plus she nailed three kills and had one ace serve. Caruso made 20 digs in the match.