By Ryan Sparks and Hasani Grayson
Grays Harbor News Group
PREP SOCCER
Montesano 1, Tenino 0
Anna Ayers’ goal was all Montesano would need to lock up a league title and pull out the 1-0 road victory over Tenino at Beaver Stadium Thursday night.
The eventual game-winning goal came in the 13th minute off a pass from Brooke Streeter. Ayers’ goal was placed just under the crossbar to give the Bulldogs an early lead.
Ayers said the goal helped her team relax in a what proved to be a tense match.
“That goal totally calmed us down and helped us focus so we could continue to defend well,” she said.
Monte head coach Fidel Sanchez said he knew Ayers would convert on the scoring opportunity.
“Anna Ayers is Anna Ayers. She’s been doing this since junior varsity,” he said. “When I came in as the JV coach her freshmen year she was scoring like 40 goals a season, so I knew she was going to be a good player in the varsity program.”
An experienced Tenino team that recognized eight seniors on its senior night, did not make things easy for the Bulldogs.
Despite being shutout, the Beavers kept the pressure on and forced Monte’s midfielders to be on their toes as Tenino looked to send players on runs and hit them with open passes.
The Beavers didn’t get too many shots on goal on a night where Bulldogs keeper Savannah Dilley had to make just four saves. Looking for the equalizing score, Tenino did apply pressure in the last 10 minutes of the match.
Monte dropped more players back to defend and survived the onslaught by clearing the ball on the box when the Beavers threatened to tie.
Montesano’s Anna Ayers, second from left, celebrates with her teammates after scoring a goal in Monte’s 1-0 win over Tenino on Thursday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Sanchez said it felt good to take home the league title in a year where fans may have been doubting them.
“Everybody was saying it was a rebuilding year for Monte and these girls have been putting in the work since June 1,” he said. “We put together a really good campaign and these girls have improved throughout the year.”
Monte has secured a first-round bye in the district tournament and will await the winner of Elma versus Columbia-White Salmon in the second round.
Ayers said her team will still be feeling the momentum from this win when they play its next game on Nov. 1
“We feel amazing right now,” she said. “It feels great to get the first seed going into the postseason. It’s only going to help us going forward.”
Monte 1 0 —1
Tenino 0 0 —0
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Elma 3, Forks 0
The Elma Eagles secured a perfect league record with a straight-set win over Forks on Thursday at Forks High School.
Eagles setter Ella Moore had 21 assists, feeding a trio of Elma hitters that recorded double-digit kills. Kali Rambo and Quin Mikel tied with a game-high 13 kills apiece and Jalyn Sackrider added 11 kills and five blocks in the win.
Elma (10-4, 8-0) closes out its regular season not only sporting a clean league record but has also won back-to-back 1A Evergreen titles and will be the league’s No. 1 seed heading into the 1A District IV Championships starting Wednesday at Montesano High School.
“I’m very proud of them,” Elma head coach Kendra Henry said of her team. “Our goal this season was to be able to come out and be strong again. They’ve worked hard and stayed focused all year. They’re definitely my favorite team to watch.”
Elma will host the No. 4 seed out of the Trico league at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the opening round of the district tournament at Montesano High School.
Elma 25 25 25 — 3
Forks 22 10 24 — 0
Montesano 3, Tenino 1
The Montesano Bulldogs locked up the 1A Evergreen league’s No. 3 seed with a 3-0 win over Tenino on Thursday in Tenino.
Jessica Stanfield led Monte with nine kills. Emma Jensen added 7 kills and Emma Kahler had 6 kills for the Bulldogs (7-7, 4-4 Evergreen 1A).
Monte won the first two sets 25-10 and 25-20 before dropping the third set, 25-17. The Bulldogs responded with a 25-18 fourth-set win to keep Tenino (0-14, 0-8) winless for the season.
The Bulldogs face Castle Rock (12-2, 8-2 Trico), the No. 2 seed out of the Trico league, in the 1A District IV Championship Tournament at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Montesano High School.
Montesano 25 25 17 25 — 3
Tenino 10 20 25 18 —1
Rochester 3, Aberdeen 2
Aberdeen dropped a hard-fought match with a playoff spot on the line as the Bobcats fell in five sets to Rochester on Thursday at Rochester High School.
The Bobcats (4-11, 2-8 Evergreen 2A) entered Thursday’s contest needing a win to secure the fourth and final playoff spot in the 2A District IV Championship meet.
The two teams flip-flopped the first four sets. Rochester scoring an extended 29-27 set in set three followed by the Bobcats cruising to a 25-15 win in the fourth.
But Rochester (8-7, 4-6) got out to en early lead in the deciding set and ended Aberdeen’s postseason hopes with a 15-11 victory.
“Rochester is really scrappy and we just couldn’t put them away,” said Bobcats head coach Doug Basler whose lineup featured eight seniors. “I think we played a little tight, more trying not to lose that aggressively going after the win, so we were a bit tentative all night.”
Aberdeen’s Tamara Corona had four aces and was credited by her coach as “having a great night on defense and serve receive.”
Hailee Baretich and Anna Arquette each had seven kills off a solid night of setting from Jalylyn McDaniel.
Basler was happy with the progress he saw from his team.
“We improved so much this season,” he said.
Aberdeen 25 17 27 25 11 — 2
Rochester 22 25 29 15 15 —3
Mary M. Knight 3, Oakville 0
Oakville had trouble with a high powered Mark M. Knight offense in its last game of the season, losing in straight set to the Owls on Thursday.
Joanna Kukhar played well defensively despite the loss, blocking three shots and adding seven kills.
Oakville head coach Jessica Spitzer said her team’s final game gave her reason to be optimistic going forward.
“The girls really demonstrated their knowledge of the game and it was a good way to end the season,” she said.
Oakville 15 12 6 — 0
MMK 25 25 25 — 3
Top Players: Oakville — Kukhar (7 kills, 3 blocks, ace), Mya Ortivez (7 assists)
Wishkah Valley 3, Lake Quinault 2
Wishkah Valley pulled out a dramatic 3-2 victory against Lake Quinault on Thursday to force a winner-take-all league-title match on Friday night.
Wishkah defeated Lake Quinault, 14-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23 and 15-13, to come away with a victory that ties up the 1B Pacific league , forcing a one-game playoff for the league title scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Wishkah Valley High School.
A Lake Quinault victory would have given the Elks the league title outright, but Wishkah rallied after being down 2-1 earn the victory and tie the Elks at 6-2 atop the league standings.
The Loggerettes’ Abbi Van Blaricom kept the mistakes to a minimum with 94-percent serving on the night.
The Elks were led by Kat Neeland’s 17 successful serves and 14 serves. Carrie Hart added 14 good serves for Lake Quinault, which was a bit shell shocked after the stunning defeat.
“We’re in a ‘what the heck just happened?’ mode,” Elks head coach Sue Kalama said. “We had some phenomenal rallies but everything was returned, on both sides tonight. Wishkah came to play.”
Wishkah head coach Katrina Eaton was pleased with the way her team came together with the match on the line.
“I’m proud of how well the girls worked together and lifted each other up. Tonight’s win was a team effort,” she said.
Lake Quinault 14 25 21 25 13 – 2
Wishkah 25 19 25 23 15 – 3
PREP CROSS COUNTRY
Monte boys, Hoquiam’s Petersen place second at district championships
The Montesano boys cross country team and Hoquiam’s Adam Petersen each placed second at the 1A District IV Championship meet on Thursday at Woodland High School.
Petersen placed second overall in the boys 5,000-meter race with a time of 17:26, finishing 18 seconds behind district champion David Carrion of Seton Catholic.
Monte’s Martin Shuck placed fifth with a time of 17:41 to lead the Bulldogs boys team to a second-place finish with 99 points. Columbia-White Salmon took the district title with 41 points. Seton Catholic was third with 104 total points.
Hoquiam’s Alex Peterson (18:04, 14th), Monte’s Andy Fry (18:07, 15th) and the Bulldogs’ Josef Aschenbrenner (18:22, 19th) were the only other local runners to place in the top 20.
In the girls district championship race, Hoquiam’s Valerie Roloff finished in 12th place with a time of 21:18.
Montesano’s Elizabeth Peterson (21:57, 17th) and Madyln Olson (22:53, 20th) also finished with top-20 times.
For full race results, visit https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=145520&show=all.
Aberdeen’s Taylor qualifies for state meet
Aberdeen sophomore Sklyer Taylor placed 24th overall at the 2A District IV Championships on Thursday in Woodland, qualifying for the state meet in the process.
Taylor crossed the finish line t 22:12, placing 24th to punch her ticket to the state meet (top 28 advance).
Aberdeen’s Mayri Orellana placed 41st with a time of 23:27.
Jordan McKinney was the top Bobcat runner in the boys race, placing 38th with a time of 17:47. Aberdeen’s Gary Sherman followed with a time of 17:48 to place
Jordan McKinney was our top boys finisher in 38th place in 17:47, with Gary Sherman right behind him in 17:48 to place 39th in a race that featured over 90 competitors.
For full race results, visit visit https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=145520&show=all.
