Key points belong to EV against Ephrata
EPHRATA - When the volleyball gods are on your side, balls hit the line instead of going out of bounds. Serves hit the tape and bounce over the net. Opponents don't dig out what appear to be sure kills.
The Ephrata Lady Tigers got none of those breaks Thursday night, and that lack of fortune - combined with a slow start - turned what could've been a very competitive match into a three-game loss. Ephrata fell to 2-4 in Central Washington League play as the East Valley Red Devils won 25-19, 25-23, 27-25 at Marty O'Brien Court.
The evening's final two points were emblematic of Ephrata's bad luck. With the score tied at 25, Tiger middle blocker Greer Monson had good looks at a pair of kills, but both sailed just inches outside the court. Instead of going to game four, the Devils celebrated.
"Balls weren't landing when we needed them to land in," Ephrata head coach Kim Crown said. "Some nights are like that - there's not much you can do. Those last two plays could've been either way with those two hits. It just wasn't meant to be, I guess."
The Tigers had sizable leads in each of the first two games, but they quickly evaporated thanks to hustling East Valley defense. EV libero Lindsay Bronkhorst led the effort, picking up 17 digs, and Crown was quick to point out the Devils' never-say-die attitude.
"They're very scrappy and you've got to give them credit," she said. "They (dug) a lot of stuff up that we thought was a done deal.
"They went for everything, nothing was dropping over there," Crown added. "They obviously were a little bit scrappier than we were tonight."
Two kills from junior Darcee Fales helped Ephrata push its lead to 14-7 in game one, but EV eventually knotted things up at 17. The Devils won 18 of the last 23 points in game one.
"I don't think we were ready to go at the start," Crown said. "Usually we start quick and we get that first game, if it's a team we can compete with, which this is.
"We didn't get our quick start and then Britney (Ratigan) was struggling a little bit, and so that kind of affected us."
Ratigan, the Tigers' No. 1 offensive weapon, finished the night with a somewhat underwhelming 11 kills. Briana Moser had seven kills and five blocks for Ephrata, with Rachelle Couture and Fales adding three kills apiece.
Ephrata bolted to a 10-3 advantage, only to see that fall apart as well. The Tigers with EV's lanky middle blockers - Annie Martinez and Lauren Walker each had seven blocks, with Walker chipping in five kills for good measure.
Game three was a back-and-forth affair the whole way, with the Tigers earning a game point at 25-24. But Moser couldn't put a kill attempt away, and Monson missed with Ephrata's next two shots.
Ephrata setter BreAnne Duff had 17 assists and served a perfect 11 for 11. Lexi Lange added six assists, and Alex De Hoog had five blocks.
Mercy Yates and Casie Snyder each had seven kills for EV, and Jaime Miller was 13 for 13 serving with 26 assists.
Ephrata, which finished out a three-game homestand, heads back on the road next Tuesday with a long trip south to Prosser, facing the Mustangs at 7 p.m. Crown didn't hesitate when asked what her team will be focusing on before the Prosser match.
"We need to work on defense," she said. "That's our strength and that's the area we need to really excel in."