By Ryan Sparks and Hasani Grayson
Grays Harbor News Group
As the season enters the final week of regularly-scheduled games, playoff seedings are starting to take shape. Monday’s prep roundup features key victories from Ocosta’s volleyball and girls soccer teams as well as a victory by Aberdeen’s swim team at one of the season’s biggest meets.
PREP SOCCER
Ocosta 6, Napavine 0
Ocosta handled a potential postseason opponent with ease Monday in a 6-0 victory over Napavine in Westport.
Ocosta (11-4 Central 2B) will likely play Napavine in the first round of the district tournament and sent an early message to the Tigers, scoring four goals in the second half to cruise to victory.
Despite the lopsided score, the Tigers (6-9) put some pressure on Ocosta’s backline early in the first half. Wildcats keeper Kristi Raffelson stopped a shot from close range in the fifth minute followed by a Tigers shot ringing off the post a few minutes later.
Ocosta’s Piper Furford said her team’s passing started to improve late in the first half after getting off to a slow start initially.
“We definitely communicated more and focused more on our passing instead of just kicking the ball wherever,” she said. “We worked more as a unit instead of individuals.”
Late in the first half, Ocosta fired the first salvo when Kennedy Merino finished a cross from Katelyn Denny in the 37th minute.
The Wildcats got on the board a minute later with a goal from Teal Mitby on corner kick that went straight into the net for a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
Ococts kept peppering Napavine keeper Lela Stewart with shots in the second half and added another goal from Abriana Ness off of rebound in the 46th minute.
Denny found the back of the net as well with the help of a Mitby assist in the 49th minute to bring the score to 4-0.
Ocosta’s Mercedes Denny works to take the ball away from a Napavine midfielder on Monday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Merino got her second goal of the match in the 59th minute and Devyn Martin got a goal in the 68th minute to round out the Ocosta scoring.
“Our shooing and passing were much better than they’ve been and the kids are putting it together at the right time toward the end of the year,” Ocosta head coach Mike King said. “We’ll probably end up playing Napavine again on Saturday and the kids came out and played really well tonight.”
Napavine 0 0 — 0
Ocosta 2 4 — 6
Black Hills 4, Aberdeen 1
The Aberdeen Bobcats fell behind early and lost 4-1 to Black Hills on Saturday at Black Hills High School.
The Bobcats (4-10, 2-7 Evergreen 2A) found themselves down 3-0 at halftime to the Wolves (9-6, 8-1).
After what Aberdeen head coach Larry Fleming called a “poor first half” from his squad, the Bobcats got a goal from Emma Green off an assist by Emma Walsh after the break and played Black Hills even in the second half.
Aberdeen’s offense has struggled in losing its last three games, scoring a goal apiece in each loss.
The Bobcats are tied with Rochester for the fourth and final spot in the upcoming 2A District IV Soccer Tournament.
Aberdeen can qualify for the postseason with a victory with a win over the Warriors in the regular-season finale at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Stewart Field.
Aberdeen 0 1 — 1
Black Hills 3 1 — 4
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Ocosta 3, Chief Leschi 0
Ocosta is one step closer to finishing out a perfect league schedule as the Wildcats cruised to a three-set win over Chief Leschi on Monday.
Ocosta greats, Kaylee Barum and Emily Snider, added to their historic all-time school records each established last week. Snider added 20 assists to her school record, spraying the ball around to Barnum, Layne Martin and Kylee Poirier, each with a team-high seven kills.
In addition to adding seven kills to her all-time school mark, Barnum also nailed a team-high five aces.
Poirier added four blocks Evalyn Marsh and Camryn Scheuber excelled at the service stripe. Marsh going 11-for-12 while Scheuber was perfect from the line.
Ocosta won 25-8, 25-12 and 25-17.
The victory clinches a 2B Pacific league title for Ocosta (13-0, 8-0), which is a game ahead of South Bend (10-3, 7-1) with a one game left on the schedule. The Wildcats hold the tiebreaker over the Indians with their head-to-head league victory back on Sept. 27.
Ocosta has a chance to close out a perfect regular season when they face Pe Ell at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Pe Ell High School.
Ocosta 25 25 25 — 3
Chief Leschi 8 12 17 —0
Raymond 3, Northwest Christian 1
The Raymond Seagulls have won four of their past five league games after a 3-1 win over Northwest Christian on Monday at Raymond High School.
Junior outside hitter Tina Sypaphay, the Seagulls’ leading hitter this season, led Raymond with a game-high eight kills on the night.
Hannah Miller had five kills and senior libero Kennis Harland had seven aces for Raymond, which won 25-15, 25-16, 19-25 and 25-19.
The Seagulls (7-6, 5-3 Pacific 2B) will be playing for playoff seeding when they face Ilwaco at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in their regular-season finale at Ilwaco High School.
NW Christian 15 16 25 19 — 1
Raymond 25 25 19 25 — 3
South Bend 3, Pe Ell 0
The South Bend Indians have not lost a set in four straight league matches as they defeated the Pe Ell Trojans 3-0 on Monday at Pe Ell High School.
South Bend (10-3, 7-1 Pacific 2B) was led by senior Jessica Sanchez, who blasted home 15 kills and recorded 10 digs in the the Indians’ sixth straight win.
Karley Reidinger added six kills and 11 digs and Joshlynne Johnson had a 100-percent defensive rating that included 10 digs for South Bend.
As a team, the Indians had another solid service night, with Sanchez, Reidinger and Hannah Byington all serving at over 90 percent for the game.
“We played consistent in all areas tonight and I was pleased with the team’s communication,” South Bend head coach Kelsey Staats said. “Tonight was another league win for us and now we have good momentum going into our last game on Wednesday.”
South Bend sits a game behind Ocosta for the league’s top spot heading into the Indians’ final regular season game when they host Life Christian Academy at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
PREP SWIMMING
Aberdeen wins SWW Women’s Invitational
Bolstered by three event wins and 14 top-five finishes, the Aberdeen Bobcats girls swimming team dominated Monday’s 2018 Southwest Washington Women’s Invitational Swim Meet, winning the prestigious event’s team championship by over 230 points in Longview on Saturday.
Aberdeen picked up wins by two of its relay teams and junior Annika Eisele. The Bobcats 200-yard freestyle team of Katie Lewis, Camryn Cook, Melissa May and Anna Weber won with a time of 1:51.55.
Weber, Kayleia Sias, Lewis and Eisele teamed up to win the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:05.35.
Weber placed second in the 200-yard individual medley (2:17. 14) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.53).
Eisele won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.97.
The meet, which took place at Mark Morris High School, featured 19 of the top 2A, 3A and 4A teams in the southwestern part of the state.
Proving they are clearly the deepest team in Southwest Washington, Aberdeen scored a total of 612 points. Camas was second with 380.5 points followed by Skyview (358, 3rd), Black Hills (230, 4th) and Mark Morris (227, 5th).
Aberdeen head coach cited Natalie Miles, who dropped 10 seconds off her previous -best time in the 100 breaststroke, and Emily Tageant and Rian Tingwall, who broke personal bests in all events they competed in.
