Warden wins at home

Lady Cougars defeat Columbia-Burbank

WARDEN — The Lady Cougars' four-game win over Columbia-Burbank was marred by a protest being reported by the Columbia-Burbank coach.

The final game of the night was tight beginning to end.

"We didn't play very well at Wahluke on Tuesday," said Warden head coach Jeff Kottong. "To come back and play well tonight was really important."

Both teams played scrappy volleyball that forced seven lead changes through the first full rotation of serving by both teams.

Warden was able to tie the game at 12 on a Columbia-Burbank sideout but could not hold serve.

After another quick sideout by Columbia-Burbank, Katherine Martin served two points for Warden to give them a 2-point edge.

On Warden's sideout, Columbia-Burbank took advantage of the serving opportunity, earning six consecutive points and taking a 20-15 lead. The scoring run was stopped by a block from Ashton Stott.

With Amanda Martin serving, Warden began to chip away at the Columbia-Burbank lead. After Amanda Martin's first serve the Columbia-Burbank bench was penalized with a yellow card. The Lady Cougars then added another three points to tie the game at 20 before siding out.

Before Columbia-Burbank could get started behind the service line again, Stott came up with a kill and then earned a point for her team to make it 22-21.

Columbia-Burbank regained possession but before the Lady Coyotes got a serve over the net, the coach was issued a red card which resulted in a lost possession.

Warden took the chance afforded them and closed out the match with a 25-22 win.

In game one the Lady Cougars came out blazing, earning an 8-3 lead on the serving of Stott but could not maintain the lead after siding out. Columbia-Burbank surged back to take a 1-point lead before Warden was able to regain possession.

Both teams kept the score close after Warden's initial scoring burst.

Warden sided out after earning their 23rd point of the game. Columbia-Burbank was unable to take advantage of the possession offered, siding out after being penalized for being out of rotation.

The Lady Cougars were still unable to close out the win, relinquishing serve but earning the game winning point on the final serve for Columbia-Burbank to win 25-23.

"We had to make some adjustments to our roster and bring a few kids up from JV," said Kottong. "The team had to work that tonight."

Warden suffered a set-back in game two, working through a scoring drive that included six consecutive points for Columbia-Burbank. The 12-6 deficit was too much for the Lady Cougars, who lost 25-18, to overcome.

"I think we got a little tentative," Kottong said. "We weren't aggressive in our digging and our timing was off."

Game three featured more of the back-and-forth scoring of game one with Warden maintaining a slight edge over Columbia-Burbank until late in the game when Columbia-Burbank was able to chip away the lead to a tie.

With both teams at 20, Warden earned a side out to take the 1-point lead and then added two more points to the board with the serving of Katherine Martin. Her first serve was topped off by a hit from Stott and forced a Columbia-Burbank timeout.

The Lady Cougars, looking at a game point, could not close out the game, siding out and allowing Columbia-Burbank to tie the game at 24.

Stott earned a kill to stop the late scoring run by Columbia-Burbank and served out the match for a 26-24 victory.

Warden's stat leaders included: Stott with 12 kills, seven blocks and 14 passes; Ivory Kisler was 19-of-19 serving with two aces and 13 assists; Brandi Kisler had 11 kills, eight blocks and two aces; Amanda Martin had 15 assists and 11 digs; Katherine Martin had seven passes and nine digs.