Moses Lake refocuses, beats Davis in four sets
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake's Alexa Cox (2) receives a serve against Davis Tuesday at Moses Lake High School.
MOSES LAKE — With the frenetic pace of volleyball, communication is key.
And constant communication is something Moses Lake has struggled with this season. Lulls have marred otherwise solid sets.
An aforementioned lull in the third set was a blip that extended the Chiefs' match with Davis to a fourth in a 25-23, 25-13, 14-25, 25-22 win.
“We started pretty strong in Game 1,” head coach Michael DeHoog said. “We kind of made it a point to come out and really do that.”
Yasmin Shateri's two straight aces in the first set extended Moses Lake's lead to 14-9. The Chiefs opened up a 17-10 lead before a 7-2 run drew the Pirates within two points.
Elly Johnson and Gabi Rios recorded back-to-back kills to clinch the set.
Rios recorded a team-high 10 kills to go with three aces.
“Gabi had a great night,” Johnson said. “Her serves were on point, her kills were on point. She only had a couple errors. It was an awesome night for her.”
Moses Lake played arguably its best volleyball of the season in the second set. After a 4-0 run by Davis made the score 15-13 in favor of Moses Lake, the Chiefs finished the set on a 10-0 run.
Shateri had two of her nine kills and a pair of blocks in the sequence.
“We communicated really well in Game 2 and I think we put full effort,” Johnson said. “We talked completely. We talked everything out and then in Game 3 we just got quiet. We weren't as competitive as we should've been.”
A slow start in the third set allowed Davis to build a healthy lead and win going away 25-14.
Tied 17-17 in the fourth set, Rios recorded three kills for Moses Lake that keyed a 6-1. Davis got as close as two points, 24-22, before Moses Lake scored the match-clinching point.
Moses Lake hosts Wenatchee Thursday, 7 p.m., on senior night. With three matches left, Moses Lake is ahead of Davis by two wins for fifth place in the Columbia Basin Big Nine.
“It's nice to see the younger players perform at a pretty good level and the seniors and juniors as well,” DeHoog said.