TOLEDO – “It was a crazy and exciting match,” coach Marie Green said after the Lady Fishermen defeated Toledo three games to two in Trico League volleyball Oct. 21. Ilwaco won the first game 25-19, lost the second 20-25, won in extra play 26-24, lost in a marathon 29-31, and pulled out the rubber game 15-10.

“In our first game we were very evenly matched. We had several long rallies and finally took the game over and finished strong,” Green said. “The second game we were down from the get-go, but were able to pull back to within five points. Game three we trailed 24-20. I took a time out, they missed their serve and then Kenzi Wirkkala served five straight points for our win.”

In the fourth game the Lady Fishermen trailed 18-5, but eventually pulled back into the game. At the end Ilwaco missed a pair of serves, had two hits out of bounds, and a key net call that helped Toledo pull out the 31-29 win. “In the final game we took the lead and didn’t look back,” Green stated.

For the Lady Fishermen Sydney Ward had seven kills, three digs and four aces and Megan Clark served four aces, had four digs and hit five kills. Alexa Wirkkala served four aces, led with six digs, added two assists and smacked down nine kills. Amanda Bell had a pair of aces, two assists, four digs and four kills. Grace McPhail served a pair of aces, had two kills and dished out a season-high 26 assists. Kenzi Wirkkala had three aces, three digs and a team-high 11 kills.

“Tonight we had to fight for every point that we earned. There were times that I thought we were going to throw in the towel, but we pulled it together and kept playing. Game four was amazing to watch. Being down 18-5 is rough, but we got some tough serves over and some incredible hits in and got our momentum back,” Green explained.

“Toledo has improved a lot from when we played them last month. It was a very exciting night. It showed that we were well-conditioned. All the girls did a wonderful job tonight, and this week. After how we played against White Salmon I knew the girls wanted to get another win. Grace did a wonderful job setting and changing up her hitters. Kenzi, Alexa, Megan and Sydney played well in the front row.”

Ilwaco is now 2-10 in the Trico and 2-11 overall, while Toledo is 0-12 in league play.

Ilwaco 25 20 26 29 15

Toledo 19 25 24 31 10

Bruins get by IHS by razor-thin margin ILWACO – “Everybody played phenomenal volleyball. We pushed and pushed and pushed. As a coach I couldn’t have been prouder,” Marie Green said. The match could hardly have been closer, but Columbia of White Salmon was able to eke out a 3-0 Trico League volleyball victory over Ilwaco at Carl Aase Gymnasium Oct. 19. The scores were 25-21, 27-25, and 25-23.

“We were down quite a bit in the first game but finally caught them at 21-21,” Green explained. “We missed a serve and they scored three points to win.”

Grace McPhail dished out 11 assists in the nail-biter and the sophomore setter added three aces and three kills. Megan Clark, another sophomore, had five kills, a pair of blocks and three digs. Seniors Kenzi Wirkkala added four kills and a dig and Alexa Wirkkala served an ace, had three kills and four digs. Sydney Ward had a pair of kills and three digs and Amanda Bell contributed a pair of aces and two kills.

Green said, “This was our best defensive game of the year. We kept our errors down and the team played with a lot of heart and never gave up. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Columbia 25 27 25

Ilwaco 21 25 23