9/6/22
WF West 3, Washougal 0 (25-7, 25-22, 25-12)
(Chehalis, WA) Two teams from District 4 2A opened up their volleyball seasons against one another on Tuesday night at Bearcat Gymnasium. The Washougal Panthers were in a neck and neck race with Woodland all last season to reach the pigtail game to get into the District Tournament. They ended up falling just short of the Beavers and first year head coach Courtney Wilkinson wants to get them over that hump in her first season running the show. For WF West, they lost some big time players from last season’s team that lost to Woodland in the pigtail game and were going to need some players to step up and take on bigger roles. Everyone would do just that for the Bearcats as they started their season on a high note sweeping the Panthers in straight sets.
In the first set, communication was the key word for both sides. Washougal had some issues that allowed WF West to pull away in the first set. The Bearcats didn’t seem to have any issues replacing the players they lost last season as Morgan Rogerson, Julia Dalan, and Mari Ceesay all dominated at the net. Rogerson would get a couple big kills and an ace from the service line. The big stat of the first set was senior Mari Ceesay serving 11 straight points for the Bearcats which helped them pull away. The one-two punch for Washougal of Sam Jackson and Emma Camp were just missing on their kill attempts in the first set. The Bearcats would finish off the first set winning it 25-7.
Things would completely change in the second set. Washougal came out looking like the jitters were gone and they were going back and forth with the Bearcats. Riley Harding found her groove and confidence in the second set. The senior started throwing off the Bearcats rhythm with some quick passes over the net that were well executed. Washougal led the second set 12-11.
The momentum shifter would come from a Bearcat senior. Savannah Hawkins took over from the service line and showed why she is one of the top servers in the EvCo with a couple aces to put WF West back out in front 17-13. Washougal would chip away but would run out of time as the Bearcats finished off the second set as Hawkins set up Mari Ceesay for the kill to give the Bearcats a 25-22 set win.
In the third set, it would be WF West cleaning things up and playing their best set as a team. Both teams had great communication and awareness of what was going on leading to the best rallies of the entire match. Julia Dalan stepped up a couple of times with some big kills on perfect sets by Savannah Hawkins. Morgan Rogerson stopped a Washougal run with a big kill to make it 8-5 Bearcats. Senior libero Courtney Jones would serve in the third set for the first time in the entire match and it would pay off. Jones would record three aces in her five serves to help the Bearcats widen their lead to 19-10. WF West would win the set as they watched the final ball go out of bounds to give them the 25-12 win and the sweep.
No one player jumped off the page stat wise for WF West as it was a very balanced team effort. Chloe Chloupek led the way with five kills while both Rogerson and Dalan had four and our Thorbeckes Player of the Game Mari Ceesay added three kills to go along with three blocks and four aces. Washougal would get good performances from Emma Camp, Riley Harding, and Kayla Deziel as they look to do what they did in this match and that is to improve each and every set.
WF West moves to 1-0 on the year and will return to the court right away as they host Castle Rock on Wednesday at 7pm. Washougal will be back in action on Thursday at 7pm as they open up league play at Hockinson.
Video Highlights
WF West Finishes the 2nd Set
The Rally of the Match
elisportsnetwork.com
