That was the chant that the fans of the Naselle Comets volleyball team could shout when the Comets won their semifinal match over the North Beach Hyaks in the Southwest Washington District Class B Volleyball Tournament played at Winlock High School Wednesday, Nov. 2. The Comets 3-0 win over the Hyaks put them into the District championship match against the high-flying Toutle Lake Ducks. But of more importance, perhaps, it gave the Comets a guaranteed trip to the state class B tournament.

Naselle had to face defending district champion Toutle Lake in Friday’s championship match, with both teams guaranteed berths in the state Class B Tournament on Nov. 11 and 12 at Cheney and Spokane. Two Central League rivals, Morton and Mossyrock, squared off on Friday for the third and final state berth with Morton winning that match and the third place ticket to state.

Sometimes, the world works in strange and mysterious ways. A week ago, the Comets lost their final league match to South Bend, putting them into a three-way tie for the Pacific League title with South Bend and Willapa Valley. Then, on a coin toss, NHS was relegated to a third place tournament draw which required them to come out of the single-elimination bracket. The third place draw also placed the Comets into the lower half of the bracket, away from the powerhouse teams from South Bend and Toutle Lake.

When the Comets won their first single elimination match, and then beat Morton in what was probably their most important win of the year, they were halfway to the state tournament. Then when North Beach defeated Willapa Valley, the Pacific League’s third tri-champion, the Comets only had to beat the Hyaks, which they had done once earlier this year.

The Comets reprised their earlier season win over North Beach by sweeping the first three games 25-13, 25-12, and 25-20 as they dominated play in the semifinal match against the Hyaks. “We made a very good team look even better,” said Hyaks Coach Diane Bjerke.

NHS did look good, with or without help from the Hyaks, as they used their basic team formula for success. The usual six standouts again contributed to the Naselle sweep. The Herrold sisters, Sylvia with 17 and Katherine with nine kills, Kellyn Pakenen with 11 service points including three aces, Brittanie Vaughn with five service points, Jamie Bighill with 18 assists and with strong defensive play, and Jenny Klinger for her setting – all were important in the 3-0 win.

Naselle Coach Debbie Denny said, “We are on to state with a clear victory over North Beach. In all three games, we took the lead and never looked back.”

Denny described the action in this manner:

“In game one – there was an all out team effort with a lot of enthusiasm.

“In game two – Kellyn Pakenen served the first six points with three aces. She also served points 14-25. The front row attack of Sylvia Herrold and Brittanie Vaughn and the back row defense of Jenny Klinger, Katherine Herrold, and Kellyn Pakenen stood out. Jamie Bighill set the ball extremely well. In this game Sylvia had eight kills and two blocks.

“Game three – Brittanie Vaughn served for five points to go with the front row attack of Katherine Herrold and Kellyn Pakenen.” Individual stats: Sylvia Herrold – 3 digs, 17 kills, 1 ace, 9 blocks; Katherine Herrold – 6 digs, 9 kills, 1 ace; Brittanie Vaughn – 3 digs, 4 kills, 1 ace; Jamie Bighill – 1 dig, 18 assists, 1 kills, 1 ace; Jenny Klinger – 3 digs, 6 assists, 1 kill; Kellyn Pakenen – 2 digs, 1 assists, 3 aces.

Naselle 25 25 25 – 3 N. Beach 13 12 20 – 0WINLOCK – The Naselle Comets gave the Toutle Lake Ducks, the defending SWW B District Volleyball champions, a stiff test in the first and third games. But they could not match the Ducks overall team strength, and the Comets lost the championship match 3-0 to the Ducks. The loss came Friday night, Nov. 4, in the Winlock gym as both teams advanced to this week’s state tournament in Cheney and Spokane.

The Comets loss came on scores of 21-25, 16-25, and 22-25. Naselle’s record stood at 14-4 for the season.

The Comets again got key contributions from several players. Jamie Bighill continued with her outstanding play as she was credited with 37 assists, while Jenny Klinger had 17 assists and five digs. Scoring leaders were Sylvia Herrold with 12 kills and eight blocks, Katherine Herrold with seven kills, and Brittanie Vaughn with four kills.

Coach Debbie Denny described the match in this way:

“Toutle is a quick team with a lot of hitters and plays a good defense. We had our moments: In game one – the score was close most of the game; we even took the lead 15 to 14; held on 14 to 17; they went ahead 19 to 17; we went ahead 21 to 19; we held on to the lead 21-20 and then they took the last four points.

“Game 2 – We just made too many errors – and they made some great hits.

“Game 3 – Another close game – they went ahead 7 to 3, 8 to 4; 8 to 11; then we tied at 12. We went ahead 14-13, tied again at 17 all, 18-18, 19-19. We went ahead 22-20 but then they scored the last 3 points to win.”

Game, match, and title to the Ducks. However, the Comets finished in second place in the District and are going to Cheney for the state tournament this Friday and Saturday.

Denny said, “The team and I would like to thank the many fans – friends, family, students, – that made the trip to Winlock. They were loud and very supportive.

“We learned a lot about ourselves as a team during this district and will prepare for state these next couple of days. We have a few things we need to do different as a team but mostly we just need to continue to improve as we have over this entire season.

“We will play our first match in Cheney at 1:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 12 against Mt. Vernon Christian,” Denny concluded.

The “luck of the draw” apparently gave the Comets a strong first round opponent in the form of MVC which is the tri-district’s first place team with a 10-3 regular season record. If the draw had come out with a different outcome, the Comets could have been playing the tri-district second place team, Orcas Island with a 6-4 record.

If the Comets win their opening match, they play the winner of the Dayton-Curlew match, each with only one regular season loss. That match will be played at 7 p.m. Friday. If the Comets lose their opening match, the meet the loser of the Dayton-Curlew match at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

The double elimination tournament has one team, Riverside Christian, with a perfect record. Four teams come in with only regular season loss. They are Evergreen Lutheran, Pomeroy, Dayton and Curlew. Individual Stats: Sylvia Herrold – 1 assist, 5 digs, 3 aces, 12 digs, 8 blocks; Brittanie Vaughn – 2 aces, 4 kills, 1 block; Katherine Herrold – 3 digs, 2 aces, 7 kills; Jamie Bighill – 37 assists; Jenny Klinger – 17 assists, 5 digs, 1 kill; Kellyn Pakenen – 1 assist, 1 dig, 2 kills

Naselle 21 16 22 – 0

Toutle 25 25 25 – 3

Comets receive Sportsmanship Award SOUTH BEND – Honors for the Pacific B All League Football Team were awarded by a vote of the league’s coaches. The Naselle Comets were awarded the League’s Sportsmanship Award. In addition, three Naselle Comets football players received Honorable Mention on the All League teams.

The Naselle players who received honorable mention were Brad Erickson, a junior lineman, on the offensive team, Randy Johnson, a senior linebacker, and Jason Gradt, a sophomore linebacker, both on the defensive team.

Pacific B crossover games results at Naselle Thursday night: Toutle Lake 33 South Bend 7 (Toutle Lake is District 1/2/4 No. 5; South Bend played Orcas Island Tuesday night for Dist. 1/2/4 No. 6) At Vancouver Saturday: Tacoma Baptist 49 Adna 14 (Tacoma Baptist is Dist. 1/2/4 No. 3; Adna is Dist. 1/2/4 No. 4) Cathlamet 33 Willapa Valley 0 (Cathlamet is Dist. 1/2/4 No. 1; Willapa Valley is Dist. 1/2/4 No. 2) Other crossover games at Vancouver Saturday: Vancouver Christian 31 Naselle 14 Raymond 12 Mossyrock 10 Morton 25 North Beach 12.