Warden drops district matches

BURBANK - After finishing the regular season with a 12-3 record, the Cougars had a tough row to hoe as the team traveled to Columbia Burbank High School for the second round of district tournament Saturday. Warden found itself matched up with two No. 1 seeds, and faced the challenge head on, but unfortunately dropped both games and was eliminated from postseason play.

The Cougars lost the first match to Naches Valley in five sets (19-25, 16-25, 26-24, 15-25) and were bounced into the consolation bracket to face the Connell Eagles who were upset by Granger. 

Iris Rodriguez led the Warden attack against the Rangers with 8 kills, 26 digs and was 10 of 11 serving. Hannah Bisnett had 8 kills and 11 blocks, Aaliyah Enriquez had 5 kills, 3 aces five blocks and hit on 13 of 13 serves. Haley Yamane contributed 10 digs and 12 assists,  Abby Richins was 9 for 10 serving, with 13 assists and 2 kills, Shania Kisler tallied 5 kills, and libero Bianca Hernandez finished with 21 digs and 3 kills.

The Cougars attempted to regroup against Connell as the match was competitive throughout, but ended up losing the match in three sets (15-25, 16-25, 17-25.) Rodriguez led the way again for Warden with 9 kills and 8 digs, Yamane added 9 assists and 6 digs, and Lexy Pruneda was 12 for 12 seving with 2 digs.

"The team had a tough task as we faced both No. 1 teams in the tournament," coach Dennis Treat said. "We played an excellent match in an opening round district win against Goldendale on Tuesday. On Saturday, we were unable to establish the rhythm we needed to have a chance against either Naches or Connell. Both teams did an excellent job against us. The girls had a very good season after moving back into the 1A classification as the Lady Cougars managed a second place finish with a 12-5 record."