Tigers prep for CWAC title against Ellensburg

EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers find themselves in a similar situation as they prepare to face off against Ellensburg for the Central Washington Athletic Conference title game on Thursday, having defeated the Bulldogs 3-2 in the 2021 CWAC title game.

“It’s always a good game against Ellensburg,” Ephrata senior Kacie Shannon said. “Long rallies, good plays on our side and theirs. I think that’s the exciting part.”

Ephrata advanced to the title game after defeating Prosser 3-1 in the first round and knocking off No. 2 seed Selah 3-2 on their home court. Both Shannon and senior Halee Moore said that the energy of the team played a significant role in their wins to open the tournament.

“I think that our energy, especially playing our last two games, was out of the roof,” Moore said. “We had so much energy, and that’s really how can excel in volleyball. Energy is really important, and if you don’t have that energy as a team sometimes it’s hard to work together.”

Head coach Britney MacLeod shared a similar sentiment, adding that positive energy helps the players play more freely on the court.

“I think the environment and culture that we have right now is positive and uplifting and confident,” MacLeod said. “We’ve been talking about it for a while, that they just need to play loose and play like they enjoy the sport. They play the sport for a reason, and so the energy that they create is our stepping stone to success.”

Both the Vikings and Bulldogs had swept Ephrata in the regular season, though there were close games between the two. The Tigers lost to Selah 3-1 and 3-2 and to Ellensburg 3-0 and 3-2. Ephrata’s shutout loss to Ellensburg was the only time the Tigers didn’t win a set in a match this season.

“I think we all realized how beatable the teams, especially Selah and Ellensburg, can be,” Moore said. “We just kind of used our skills as a team and worked together and made it happen.”

With the regular season losses to the Vikings and Bulldogs, Ephrata was placed in the No. 3 seed in the tournament.

“We kind of just realized we had nothing to lose, and just decided to go all out in those games,” Shannon said. “And, it worked!”

The first two rounds of the tournament for Ephrata were played on Selah’s home court, where the Tigers had lost 3-1 earlier this season.

“It was a great opportunity to beat Selah on their home floor and not have to see them the rest of the tournament,” MacLeod said. “It was exciting to watch (the Tigers) come alive, know that they’re beatable and that we also have a good team. For them to play with that confidence is extremely important.”

Moore credited Ephrata players both on and off the court for keeping a winning mentality in the win against Selah.

“Without the people on our team I think the outcome would have been different,” Moore said.

Since Saturday’s win, the Tigers had five days to prepare for the district title game against Ellensburg, who they beat 3-2 for last year’s CWAC tournament title.

“Being able to take time, watching film, really diving in and understanding their game so that it can help us understand how we need to perform that day,” Moore said. “It’s very beneficial I think.”

The CWAC Championship game begins at 7 p.m. at Ellensburg. The winner advances to state, while the loser will host the District 5/6/8 Crossover against Clarkston.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.