NASELLE – In a game dedicated to deceased coach, Doug Rogers, and thick with emotion by players the venerable Rogers had mentored on both sides, Naselle downed Ilwaco 3-1 in non-league volleyball action Monday before a record crowd at Lyle Patterson Gymnasium.

Following a brief tribute by Jon Tienhaara and words of honor from Bill Marshall, Rob Dalton and Candy Johnson, the match began with the two teams trading points until the contest was knotted at 5-5. Sylvia Herrold blasted the first of her game-high 16 kills to give the Comets the lead at 6-5. Naselle, on the strength of Herrold’s eight kills, two blocks and service ace went on a 16-1 streak and breezed to a 25-8 win.

Following the display of power and grace from Herrold during the run, Naselle athletic director Brian Macy said, “That performance alone was worth the price of admission.” As dominant as the Comets and Herrold were in the opening game, Ilwaco was that resilient and relentless in game two. Lady Fisherman Courtney Gilgore scored three kills from her outside hitter position, Marin McDonnell served up two aces and Ilwaco tied the score on an amazing 13 occasions, the last time at 20-20. It was then that Naselle’s Brandi Keightley blasted two of her five kills in game two and also added two aces on serves to help salt away a 25-20 win over the Lady Fishermen.

Ilwaco raced to a 9-3 lead in game three on the strength of three aces by Charlotte Johnson and two from Melany Bliss. The Lady Fishermen fell behind 14-18, but pulled out a 25-23 victory with the aid of a pair of kills from Erin McDonnell to force a fourth game. Ilwaco had six aces and five kills in game three to Naselle’s two aces and seven kills.

The final game was tied three times early and then Ilwaco broke a 4-4 log jam to snag a 12-6 advantage. Marin McDonnell served four aces early and Bliss had two blocks during the run. It was then that Rebecca Rostad returned the favor with three serves for aces, Emily Green had a key block and Herrold had two aces to tie the score at 13-13.

The Lady Fishermen took the lead on an Erin McDonnell kill and her key block to apparently up their advantage to 15-13. However, an Ilwaco player inadvertently served out of order so the score reverted to 14-13 by rule. Ashley Ahlstrom’s ace and an ace and kill from Herrold soon gave the Comets an 18-16 advantage. Shelby Leeland served two aces and drove down a kill, Green served two aces and Herrold crushed the game-ending kill from the back row to hand Naselle a 25-20 victory, giving the home team the match at three games to one.

An emotionally drained Comets coach Kim Eaton said, “Emily Green and Rebecca Rostad came up big for us serving tonight, Brandi Keightley had an excellent game both serving, spiking the volleyball and with her floor game. And of course Sylvia (Herrold) was awesome with her leadership, talent and competitiveness.”

Despite the loss, Ilwaco coach Candy Johnson said, “This was our best match over the past two seasons. We have improved a great deal since last year. I am happy with what we did tonight.”

Statistically Naselle’s advantage in the power game was evident as they had 32 kills to 12 for the Lady Fishermen and they blocked six points to three for Ilwaco. The visitors had 15 aces on serves and Naselle managed 18. Both teams helped their respective coaches frustration levels grow by missing a dozen serves apiece.

Individually Herrold led Naselle with 16 kills, four blocks and nine service aces. Keightley had 11 kills and three aces for the winners and Jackie Anderson had two blocks. The Lady Fishermen were led at the serving line with six aces from Marin McDonnell. Gilgore topped the visitors with five kills and Bliss had two blocks on the evening.

Comets earn comeback winMOSSYROCK – The Naselle Comets volleyball team got a big dose of confidence with a come-back win over the Mossyrock Vikings in a non-league match played in Mossyrock Thursday, Sept. 13. The Comets fell behind by losing the first game and lost two of their first three games before roaring back to win the last two games for a 3-2 decision over the Vikings.

Coach Kim Eaton said, “We came out really flat and, as a result, Mossyrock handled us pretty easily in the first game.”

The third game turned out to be real battle as the Comets got out in front before the Vikings’ server went on a streak of 14 straight service points to build the Mossyrock lead to 10 points before the Comets started to rally.

In game four, Mossyrock again started a service rally but the Comets were able to break the serve and take control. The Comets then roared to a five-point win to even the match at 2-2 and to put the match into the fifth and final deciding game.

With the game-tying fourth game going their way, the Comets had momentum going into the deciding fifth game. Eaton said, “We had momentum and we were working great as a team. There was lots of excitement as we won the tie-breaker by four points.”

The Comets, now 2-1 on the season, play their first league Pacific League match at Raymond this Thursday, Sept. 20.

Naselle 13 26 22 25 15 – 3

Mossyrock 25 24 25 20 11 – 2