Vikings fall to CBC, wrap up season Saturday

PASCO — BBCC took the road for the final time on Wednesday, as they headed to Pasco to battle it out versus the Columbia Basin College Hawks. Looking for the answer to snap their current losing streak, the Lady Vikes hoped to come out of the gate ready to go. Slow starts have been the kryptonite of the Viking volleyball team and CBC was no different. 

"The way we opened up in set 1 was unfortunately something we have seen a lot of this year where we just can't get anything going. CBC wasn't really even doing anything, we were just getting in our own way. We couldn't find the court offensively, and our passing wasn't allowing us to be in the system. But I was proud of the way the girls turned it around in the second set. It was a complete 180, our passing improved tremendously, we had twice the amount of kills, and our blockers started shutting CBC down at the net. But we just let them go on a run at the end of the set and you can't do that with good teams because they're not going to make mistakes at the end of the game. Set 3 we started off even stronger than set 2 but my message to the girls was that CBC is a team that isn't just going to give up and so we have to keep earning our points and not wait for them to make mistakes and it was back and forth for most of the set and unfortunately we let them go on a run at the end of set 3 as well." stated Head Coach Alexa Moser.

After a slow, non-competitive first set with a score of 25-11, the Lady Vikes were able to turn it on in the second and third set but ultimately fell short by scores of 25-18 in both sets. Dakota Killian, Audrey Wellhausen and Casey White led the way offensively combining for 21 kills throughout the course of the match. Moser had this to say regarding their play. 

"Besides set one, this was a competitive match, even though we got swept in three. There was a lot of good things that happened. It was one of our best offensive nights, and that's been a focus lately and it was nice to see that translate over. But again, we're just not doing it consistently enough and when you're still only putting a ball away once out of every four attempts, those long rallies, or even just the point differential are what kills you when you get to the end of the set, we're going to come up short every time. Our middles had another great night and Casey White is included in that strong offensive night, but we still couldn't use them enough and when you have three girls totaling the amount of kills just one of their players have, you're just outmatched offensively."

After another tough loss, Moser highlighted that the win-loss record does not reflect the work that her players have put in. "My heart hurts for these girls to have another loss because I see how hard they work in practice and the growth they've had from the beginning of the season and I want to see the hard work they put in pay off. But when we're so inconsistent, it's hard to get into a groove of things and come out on top in some of these sets. But the heart and fight is what we compete with and that's all you can ask for as a head coach. With only one game left, we just have to make the choice to not accept anything other than a win, to go all out every single ball and every single point."

With one final match this upcoming Friday, BBCC will be honoring their sophomores for their hard work and dedication to the Viking program. 

As always, keep up with the Lady Vikings on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as through the NWACSports Network's livestream video platform, where available.