ADNA — Ocosta will have to settle for the second seed in the district after losing the 2B District IV championship match to Kalama in straight sets on Saturday.
Ocosta struggled to get in syn on offense until halfway through the third set to lose by scores of 25-16, 25-12 and 25-22.
The loss marks Ocosta’s first defeat of the season.
“We didn’t hit the ball and we didn’t play our game,” said Ocosta head coach Barbra Rasmus. “We didn’t play our offensive game and I don’t know why that happened.”
The Wildcats got off to a slow start in the first few points in the opening set and quickly fell behind as the Chinooks found their rhythm.
Ocosta’s problems compounded in the second set, falling behind 12-3 while being plagued by hitting errors.
Rasmus said the passing was just a little bit off, causing the hitters to make adjustments on the fly.
“I didn’t think it was terrible. It wasn’t like it was flying off into Timbuktu, it just wasn’t getting to the setters and we had to scramble a lot,” she said.
On Kalama’s end, the back row did well to limit the kills from Ocosta in the first two sets. Kaylee Barnum put some hard shots over the net that were dug out and eventually returned.
Barnum had an unusually quiet night offensively with two kills. Layne Martin led the attack with four kills.
The beginning of the third set looked a lot like the first two sets until the Wildcats showed some late life. Ocosta started the set down 12-3 before stringing together five straight points to put some pressure on Kalama.
Ocosta assistant coach Erin Snider said improved passing finally allowed Ocosta to go on a late run.
“The passing improved halfway through the third set which made it easier to get some actual offense set up,”she said. “Once we could get our offense going we looked a lot better.
Ocosta found itself down by just one point with Barnum serving, but Kalama put an end to any comeback hopes with one last kill from Marlee Vickers allowing the Chinooks to lift the championship trophy while Wildcats players watched from the opposite side of the net.
After the match, Rasmus thanked the fans who made the trip and reminded her players that they can make up for this loss at the state tournament.
She said she is looking forward to a rematch at state.
“Its encouraging that we came back in that third game and we’re probably going to meet them again,” she said.
With a spot in state tournament secure, the Wildcats will play the waiting game to see who will be across the net from them when they head to Yakima for the opening round.
Snider said play in Saturday’s game had some uncharacteristic mistakes but is confident they can get things ironed out in practice.
“ I think we can correct those mistakes,” she said. “Defensively there are some adjustments we can make that we can work on in practice but we should be fine.”
Kalama 25 25 25 — 3
Ocosta 16 12 23 — 0
Top Players: Emily Snider (8 assists). Marsh (4 kills), Hailey Jones (2 blocks)
Ocosta’s Layne Martin picks up a kill in the first set against Kalama. Martin led the team in kills with four. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
