Moses Lake volleyball advances in 4A District 6 playoffs
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake middle blocker Yasmin Shateri (10) goes up for the block against Sunnyside during Tuesday night's 4A District 6 volleyball match.
MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake senior Renee Ohs did everything, but sing the national anthem. Oh wait, she did that too to jump-start the Chiefs’ 25-9, 25-18, 25-8 victory over Sunnyside at the 4A District 6 play-in game.
Ohs is one of four Moses Lake seniors that have been playing together since seventh grade. Tuesday night’s win in the loser-go-home match is the farthest into the tournament they have played together. Ohs was a big part of the blocking scheme and a front row that featured 10 kills apiece from Gabi Rios and Yasmin Shateri.
“The four seniors have been playing together since seventh grade, and I’m pretty sure everybody else behind us has been playing together since they were in middle school too,” said Ohs, who really did provide a stunning rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. “In the four years we’ve played in high school, to be able to say we’ve made it this far in the tournament is important. You realized all the hard work has paid off.
“It’s the best, we’ll always have those memories of each other even when we’re done playing. It’s one of those remember-when-moments.”
The No. 3 Chiefs (10-6) stayed in the moment with a decisive win over the Grizzlies (3-13) to advance to play No. 2 Wenatchee Thursday night at West Valley High School.
Shateri and Rios hit stride with 10 kills apiece. The two-setter offense distributed the ball well. With everybody on, it was just a matter of spreading the love. Serina Haneberg finished up with 15 assists and Callie Tabert had 12.
“We could move the ball anywhere we wanted because everybody was hitting so well,” Haneberg said. “Our hitting percentage was pretty high so we just had to mix it up. Defensively, I think we did pretty good. Everybody read the ball pretty well.”
Moses Lake led 19-8 and closed the match out on a Shateri stuff block for the win. In fact, the Chiefs closed out all three sets on a Shateri play. The first set on the block in the middle. The second set ended on a power shot to close out a 25-18 victory and the third was a little more creative as the 5-foot-10 middle blocker fielded a loose ball with her back to the net and fired an over-the-shoulder winner that caught the Grizzlies flat footed to end the match.
“This is the first year we’ve made it this far and it’s such a great thing the whole team has been working through this,” Shateri said. “Some of us have been working for this since middle school.
“They move me around a lot and I really like that. Putting balls down is a good end for me. We’ve been blocking really well so far and we need to keep it up as the intensity increases with each game.”
The Chiefs will face Wenatchee on Thursday and the winner will play for the District 6 championship later that day.
“The end game is making it to state, but we have to beat Wenatchee and stay focused on that match. But it is an exciting time to be playing,” Ohs said.