Absolutely golden

Columbia-Burbank 3, Warden 0

Warden swept over by No. 1 team in SCAC

BURBANK - Warden took a beating, but mainly from themselves.

Goldendale wrapped up a SCAC district opener against the Cougars in a 25-13, 25-12, 25-11 sweep at Columbia-Burbank High School. But, it was the 18 unforced errors by Warden that helped the Timberwolves capture the sweep.

Warden clinched a spot in the tournament after Walla Walla Valley Academy was ruled ineligible for school rules regarding play on Saturday. The Seventh-Day Adventist school views Saturday as its sabbath and would forfeit all games on Saturday.

"We belonged here, though we didn't have the best record, we beat teams that are here," said Warden volleyball head coach David Vega. "We are a good enough team to be here, but we didn't play like it tonight."

Vega said the reason was simple for the sloppy play. It was the first time in six years the Cougars had made an appearance at the district playoffs.

Experience proved to be Warden's enemy.

"We have no veterans in this sport at this level and they came out tight," Vega said. "It is hard to give people confidence when they have never been here."

Building confidence after losing handily to Goldendale wasn't Vega's concern. The last time the two teams met, Goldendale had its way with the Cougars, but Warden went on to win three of its next four games.

Their only loss came in a five-game series with Royal. Unfortunately, the Knights lost to Cle Elum and will face the Cougars in a loser-out game Saturday.

"We took our lumps tonight, but hopefully that works out for us as we get ready for Saturday," Vega said.

Sierra Kisler gave Warden a sense of hope after her opening serve crawled over the net and landed for an ace infront of the Goldendale front line. Jennifer Kottong followed with a kill and a gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead, but that is where it ended.

The Timberwolves began its rotating wheel of servers who managed to put together strings of points and limiting the Cougars' possession. Kisler had one last attempt to put a rally together for Warden with a push to 21-11, but Goldendale's lead was too much for a comeback, taking the first game 25-13.

The Timberwolves never lured Warden into a false sense of security in the second game, blowing the game to a 23-11 lead behind the serves of Jessie Davenport, who scored three aces during her string of seven points.

Warden opened up the final game of the match, exchanging blows with Goldendale and taking a 5-3 lead, its second lead of the game. But once again, the Timberwolves took control of the game and watched as Warden took itself out.

The Cougars committed seven unforced errors after taking the lead, while Goldendale stayed near perfection to put the game away.

"It is getting them to relax and being who we are," Vega said. "There wasn't technical things we did wrong, we just didn't do anything."

The loss creates a matchup with Royal, who is 2-0 in head-to-head games this season. But Vega has until Saturday morning to get the Cougars ready for a loser-out match.

"We have experience of being humiliated like this and then coming back, so why not," Vega added.