Photo by George Kunke - Willapa Valley junior Merissa Frasier lets fly with a serve against Raymond Saturday afternoon at Seagull gym.
In an entertaining match before a small but vocal crowd, Raymond turned it on when it had to while upending upset-minded rival Willapa Valley, 22-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-21 at Seagull gym Saturday afternoon. Junior outside hitter Kyra Gardner was on fire offensively while leading the Lady Seagulls with 16 kills and 1 block.
"We came out very strong in the first set and were passing and attacking the ball very well," Coach Swogger told the Herald Sunday. "We had a good lead opened up, however, we let them back in and allowed them to take the set. We had some issues with serve-receive and let it get to us. We did better after that but did not recapture the intensity and level we started with in set one. We need to work on playing to our potential and staying there throughout the entire match."
Gardner committed no hitting errors and had a .615 percent hitting percentage, according to Swogger. "Her leaping ability and height are impressive and she often goes right over the block," Swogger said.
Raymond junior Izzy Silvernail was lethal with her serving low liners and scored 5 kills as a back row setter. Silvernail notched 4 aces serving. "She figured out Valley's holes and was able to hit them," Coach Swogger said.
Raymond blew a 15-9 lead in the first game. Raymond jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the pivotal second game on the strength of solid serving by senior Teragan Fleury who whacked in 2 aces during the stretch. Valley fought back strong and tied the game at 16-16 on a mean block by sophomore Grace Huber. The Vikings led at 25-24 on Huber's kill before the Lady Gulls notched the final three points - winning on a nice spike by soph Alia Enlow (5 kills, 4 blocks).
Valley shot out to a 6-2 lead in game 4 before Gardner's block knotted it at 7-7. Valley's last lead was 8-7. Down 17-10, the Vikes rallied to within three, three times at 21-18, 23-20 and 24-21 after a killer shot by junior Lanissa Amacher. The match ended on an out-of-bounds shot by WV.
The young Vikings, who played very well at times, are competing in Class 1B this season.
Raymond also won the junior varsity match 25-16, 25-19. "We did a great job of serving and getting off strong attacks the whole game," Swogger said.
Valley (0-3) played at rival Pe Ell last night, hosts Naselle Thursday, and Mossyrock (4-0) tonight at 5:45.
Raymond 3, Ocosta 1
Raymond won over Ocosta in four games, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-13 at Westport last Thursday. Gardner paced the offense in the kill department with 11.
"During the first two sets we made uncharacteristic mistakes with serving," Coach Swogger told the Herald. "We have relied on it heavily in our first three games. Our offense was also out of sync the first two sets and we made some setting and attacking errors. In a lot of ways losing the second set was probably a blessing in disguise. After that we woke up and improved play in all areas of the game for sets three and four."
Izzy Silvernail was perfect at the service line while going 24 for 24 with 6 aces and Caton Swogger was also perfect at 19 for 19 with 5 aces. Grace Busenius added 10 kills and Sidney Swogger fired in 6 aces and 2 kills.
"Hannah Miller also was able to get some good swings and in the third set, which helped us regain our momentum in the match," Coach Swogger added.
The Lady Seagulls won the JV match 25-5, 25-13. "This group is doing an amazing job, including our four eighth graders who are playing up," Coach Swogger said.
Raymond 3, Ilwaco 0
Raymond stayed undefeated with a sweep of host Ilwaco last Tuesday (Feb. 16). The Lady Seagulls won by scores of 25-13, 25-22, 25-17. Gardner was tops for RHS on offense with 7 kills.
"Overall we did a good job of getting swings at the ball and need to work on smoothing out the offense," Coach Swogger said. "Tonight we had another very good serving night with five players having more than three aces. We also kept our service errors low as a team."
"Kyndal Koski has done an amazing job stepping in as a freshman setter and serving. She has long runs behind the service line.
Sidney Swogger added 5 kills.
"Hannah Miller and Caton Swogger also had good nights at the net," Coach Swogger added.
Ilwaco was victorious in the junior varsity match, 23-25, 25-15 and 15-13.
"This was our first away game and the girls came out a little nervous, missing one too many serves," Coach Swogger said.
Ilwaco visited Raymond (5-0) last night. The Lady Gulls travel to Chief Leschi Thursday and get a visit from Forks Tuesday with the JV match getting it all happening at 5:45. All are Pacific League matches.