Wahluke Warrior volleyballers fall to Connell, Ki-Be

MATTAWA - About all that Wahluke High School volleyball coach Rudi Christian could say was "Connell is a great team" after last week's SCAC East volleyball action.

And Kiona-Benton is no slouch.

The Warriors were swamped by Connell, 25-8, 25-13, 25-4. Wahluke took the third game against Ki-Be but lost the match, 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 25-9.

The Warrior girls started off slowly against Ki-Be but came together in the third game, led by Morgan Peterson on the service line.

"She pushed several points, and we took a big lead," Christian said.

But the third game took a physical toll. Setter Rebecca Ramirez left in the middle of the third game due to a major calf sprain, and defensive specialist Dianne Cruz left the game with an injury as well.

"We still managed to beat the Bears that game, which was a great accomplishment," Christian said.

Wahluke girls had to play in different positions. The fourth game was tough.

"We weren't able to get into a rhythm," Christian said.

Peterson led the Warriors with 20-21 serving and seven kills. Maripaz Olivarez had seven digs and five kills. Mary Espino had 9-10 serving, and Rebecca Ramirez had nine digs.

The team was successful on 88 percent of its serves. It had the same serving success against Connell but not much of anything else.

"We struggled with serve receive and being able to attack against them," Christian said. "But there were intense volleys in all three games. The team played hard and competed against their strong offense."

Olivarez led the Warriors with nine digs, seven perfect passes and 6-6 serving. Ramirez and Peterson had two kills each.