YAKIMA — Quilcene won two of the four games it played at the Class 1B state volleyball tournament to earn the sixth-place trophy, the Rangers’ best-ever finish at state.
“The girls played solid volleyball as a team and worked together to place higher than last year [eighth],” Quilcene coach Joni Crowell said.
The Rangers’ first game of the tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome was Friday morning against Lake Quinault, which they won 25-10, 25-17, 25-8.
“The girls served very well, only missing two serves the entire game,” Crowell said.
Sammy Rae had 14 kills, with Emily Hit adding seven kills and Megan Weller another five.
Rae served five aces, and Weller and Katie Bailey adding another four apiece.
Allison Jones had 27 assist, while Weller had 11 digs and Emily Hitt finished with eight.
In its second game, Quilcene faced a familiar and daunting foe: Christian Faith, which had already beaten the Rangers in three sets twice this season.
The Eagles, who went on to place third at state, got the best of Quilcene again, winning in three sets 25-13, 25-9, 25-12.
“We never could build any momentum, but we never stopped fighting,” Crowell said.
Rae had two kills, two aces, two blocks and eight digs for the Rangers.
Bailey added two more kills and five digs, while Hitt had five aces and seven digs and Alex Johnson had two aces.
Saturday morning, Quilcene faced Odessa-Harrington in a loser-out game.
The Rangers defeated the Titans in four sets 25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 25-13 to earn a spot in the fifth-place game.
“[We] played very well against Odessa, with excellent hitting and serving, as well as strong defense,” Crowell said.
For Quilcene, Weller had five kills, three aces and 15 digs.
Jones had 16 digs and 36 assists; Bailey had four aces, 22 digs and three blocks; Katie Love had three kills and three blocks; Rae had two aces, 18 kills, 12 digs and a block; Hitt had 13 kills and 12 digs and Alex Johnson had 14 digs.
“They played with a lot of intensity this game and worked very well setting up the hitters and hustling for the ball,” Crowell said.
In the fifth-place game, the Rangers lost to St. John-Endicott 14-25, 24-26, 25-12, 17-25.
“We stayed very competitive through this game and our serve-receive was excellent,” Crowell said.
“The game was very fast paced, and everyone was transitioning and covering very well.”
Weller had six aces, 11 digs and two blocks, and Jones had 11 digs and 22 assist as well as two blocks.
Rae finished with 13 kills and 13 digs, while Hitt had seven kills and three aces, along with 21 digs and her first block in a varsity-level game.
“This has been an amazing two years and I am very honored to coach such a dedicated and talented group of young ladies,” Crowell said.
“They are constantly improving and setting new goals and have really turned our volleyball program into something our whole community is proud of.
“We are losing one senior this year, our captain Samantha Rae, and she will be greatly missed as our powerhouse outside hitter.
“She accumulated 296 kills this year and was an all-around great athlete to coach.”
The Rangers will return many players next season that have already played in two state tournaments.
“We do have several young players that are eager to step up next year, and they gained some valuable experience at state this year,” Crowell said.
“We also were really happy to see Neah Bay at state, as well as watch the brackets and see that my high school coach [Tim French], who is now North Kitsap’s high school coach, placed second at state in the 2A [tournament].”
