HS Volleyball: Mossyrock Earns 3rd Sweep of Season, Takes Down Napavine

9/26/24

Mossyrock 3, Napavine 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-19)

(Napavine, WA) After a hiatus and some time spent in the 1B classification, the Mossyrock Vikings made their return to 2B and got to rekindle some of their old rivalries, one being with the Napavine Tigers. The two 2023 volleyball state qualifiers met in Tiger Gymnasium on Thursday night for what would be a nonleague match, which gave both teams a little bit of a scouting opportunity. Mossyrock wanted to show that they are still contenders even at 2B while the young Tigers would look to make an early statement.

Things were not very clean for Mossyrock in the opening set. The Vikings committed six service errors in the first set which allowed Napavine to build up a lead and keep the Vikings at bay. Jessie McCoy and Kendall Kelly started strong while Nicholle Valentine started to get going as the set rolled along. Finally, Mossyrock started to wake up and fight back into it. Mossyrock would go on a run and score the final seven points of the set behind Erin Cournyer and Saydi Mendoza to comeback and win the opening set, 25-19.

In the second set, Mossyrock started off fast and built a strong lead with Mendoza as Chesney Schultz also started to heat up at the net for the Vikings. Kennedy Purvis was a good counter to Schultz in the middle for Napavine as they tried to slow down a rolling Viking squad. Delaney Marshall would be the best server of the match with a few aces to continue to propel Mossyrock as they widened their lead. Napavine chipped away but ran out of time as the Vikings took set number two, also 25-19.

Looking for the sweep, Mossyrock looked to build a big lead early but Napavine would not allow it. The Tigers hung around with the Vikings as Emily Kang threw herself around the back line as the libero handled things for Napavine. Some really good rallies took place in the third set as Taylor Schwartz and Adyson Barrows battled the back line of Napavine in Kang, Lillian Blair, and MaKayla Brett. Mossyrock completely erased their serving issues from the first set as they only had five errors for the rest of the match. Cournyer and Schultz were too much up front as Mossyrock shut down the late Napavine rally to earn the sweep, taking the third set 25-19.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the match went to Mossyrock’s Erin Cournyer. The senior captain was doing it all both at the net and on the back line. While she is the setter, Cournyer took some shots for herself earning some points while also piling up seven digs and 18 assists in the Vikings win. Mossyrock has plenty of big threats at the net, but Cournyer is the one that keeps the system running smoothly and she was on her A-game on Thursday night.

Thursday night’s win moves Mossyrock to 4-2 on the season with one final tune-up before league play starts next week. The Vikings will play their final nonleague match on Tuesday at 7pm when they visit the Rainier Mountaineers. Napavine drops to 3-3 on the year with two more nonleague matches next week. First up on Tuesday at 7pm, the Tigers will host the undefeated Adna Pirates.

Link to watch the full match on the NFHS Network (Subscription required)