Warriors punch ticket to state

COULEE CITY — No matter the outcome of Saturday’s district championship game against Northport, the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors are on to state after defeating Curlew and Odessa in the first two rounds of the Northeast 1B district tournament Thursday.

“(We were) excited, and wanted to kind of prove ourselves,” ACH coach Katie Walsh said. “We hadn’t made it for two years to state, and the fact that we got to host at our home court — we wanted to get the job done and punch our ticket tonight. We knew we had to work and play every ball.”

After a sweep of Curlew in the opening round, the Warriors took to the court later Thursday evening in a rivalry matchup against the Odessa Tigers, winning 3-1.

ACH outscored the Tigers 7-1 down the stretch of the first set winning 25-18 on a missed spike by Odessa, then carried on their momentum into the second set with a close 27-25 win to go up 2-0.

“The girls came out fired up and ready to go,” Walsh said. “I think it was just a difference in a little bit of energy. Being on our home court definitely helped us there.”

There were long rallies throughout the night between ACH and Odessa, and Warrior senior Natalie Evers said the team’s on-court communication was a key factor in the win.

“It helps so much,” said Evers, who had 14 kills in the match. “We’re all together and love each other; if someone messes up it doesn’t matter, we’re back in it, we got it. We all believe in each other until the end.”

After a block by Warrior senior Mariah McWalter tied the third set at 18 and a kill by senior Kayleigh Elder tied the set at 19, the Tigers surged on offense on the final nine rallies to take the game 25-22.

“They put a lot of balls up,” Walsh said. “Our offense wasn’t flowing as well as it could, they were defending (Evers) really well. When they would defend her, then they were also putting the ball up for their hitters to get an attack. They had an all-around great set defensively and offensively, and we were trying to catch up and get back in it.”

The fourth and final set was again closely contested, with both squads finding themselves tied three times before putting the Tigers away en route to a 25-18 win. Warrior junior Emma Whitaker aced on the game’s final three serves.

“She had only served, I believe, one rotation before,” Walsh said. “That was only her second rotation of the entire night serving. I believed in her, and she obviously believed in herself.”

ACH found success blocking all night against Odessa, but McWalter’s two blocks late in the fourth set helped the Warriors clinch a berth in the 1B State Volleyball Tournament. McWalter, who finished the match with nine blocks, recorded blocks on back-to-back rallies to put her team up 20-17 and 21-17. 

“She really stepped up,” Evers said. “I got tired and struggled a little bit, but she really helped us in the fourth set. She had big blocks, really grateful for that.”

The Warriors defeated Curlew Thursday afternoon with set scores of 25-6, 25-17 and 25-8.

“We knew going into that match that we had to take care of our side of the court, and take care of our unforced errors,” Walsh said. “Make sure it was a clean game, and the girls did that. I felt like it was a great start to the day, and then we knew that it was time to work.”

Playing in a tournament, the Warriors weren’t certain of their opponent until after Odessa defeated Inchelium earlier that day in the first round. Walsh said that no matter who they would have ended up playing in the second round, preparing for a match on short notice comes down to keeping their own side of the court in check.

“We talked about this all season long, just taking care of our side of the net; no matter what the other team does,” Walsh said. “We know Odessa has good hitters, Inchelium is a super scrappy team that has great defense. We knew that teams are going to get points on you, it’s what you do on your side that matters.”

Results from Saturday afternoon’s district title game between ACH and Northport were unavailable in time for press deadline. 

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

Box scores

ACH vs Curlew

Curlew: 6-17-8 0
ACH: 25-25-25 3

ACH vs Odessa

Odessa: 18-25-25-18 1
ACH: 25-27-22-25 3

    Warrior senior Kayleigh Elder hits the ball over the net in the fourth set against Odessa.
  

    Warrior seniors Kady Murray (8) and Mariah McWalter (12) jump up to attempt a block against Curlew.
  

    ACH senior Natalie Evers (4) spikes the ball against Odessa.