No. 2 ranked West Valley sweeps Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Just the presence of 6-foot-5 West Valley middle blocker Shea Rubright hovering in the middle of the court was enough disrupt the Moses Lake game plan Thursday night.

Rubright, who was on the USA Youth Red team that played in the Women's International Junior Division at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships, wasn’t even the big hitter for the Rams (9-0, 8-0 CBBN).

But 6-5 in the middle floor was a force to be reckoned with and West Valley, which rolled into town as the No. 2 ranked team in 4A, swept Moses Lake 3-0. Rams outside hitter Adysen Burns led all hitters with nine kills. Rubright finished with seven and 6-foot middle Alyssa Smith came away with five. The Rams outhit the Chiefs 26-9 en route to a 25-19, 25-14, 25-8 victory.

“I had to track the middle. She was my primary focus, knowing where she was when she was on the floor,” Chiefs middle Yasmin Shateri said. “She had a good serve and did some good things, but I thought we hit well.

“Keeping our energy up was key tonight. The first game we were scrambling and rallying, but we kind of wore down.”

There was fight in the dog and the Chiefs came out swinging. Shateri had two kills and a service ace and the Chiefs (3-6, 3-5) stayed with the Rams through the first 19 points. But West Valley, who outhit the Chiefs 7-5 in the set, pulled away with six straight points to take the early advantage.

“We switched up our front row and focused on where (Rubright) was going to hit it and try to force her hand. We switched up our front row to try and have a bigger block,” Chiefs coach Jennifer Gering said. “We really stepped up and played as well as we have all season.”

Shateri had a nice block against Rubright to open the second set and give the Chiefs a 3-0 early lead. The Rams struggled with the service with three consecutive net balls. But they aren’t the No. 2 ranked team in the state because they don’t know how to adjust on the fly. West Valley took over at 18-12 and drove the second set home 25-14.

“I had to keep where (Rubright) was at in mind when I was setting the ball,” said Hallie Walker, who finished with 25 assists. “I feel like going up against 6-5 affected us.

Setting right on the net where she was was going to get blocked every time. She wasn’t a big threat hitting at us. But her height advantage on the block was there all night.”

Said Chiefs sophomore outside hitter Gabi Rios, “They are a good team and (Rubright) isn’t even their best hitter,” she said. “As a front row, I thought we hit pretty well. We read the blocks and got around them pretty well. I’m really proud of my team and how we’ve been playing lately.”

Moses Lake travels to Yakima on Tuesday to face Davis.

Set scores

West Valley 25 25 25

Moses Lake 19 14 8

Highlights - Moses Lake: Yasmin Shateri 3 kills; Gabi Rios 2 kills; Hallie Walker 25 assists.