Volleyball finishes fourth at NWAACCs
MHCC freshman player Lihau Perreira spiking the ball over the net at the first volleyball match of the tournament, which they won. The Saints went on to lost to Blue Mountain in the quarter-finals, pushing them into the loser’s bracket, where they were eliminated by Tacoma.
Attempting to repeat as NWAACC champions for the first time since 2006-07, the Saints fell just short, finishing fourth at this year’s season-ending tournament.
After knocking off Wenatchee Valley (25-17’ 25-16’ 25-17) and Bellevue (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) in their first two matches, MHCC faced their toughest challenge of the tournament and suffered a five-set, hard-fought loss to the Blue Mountain Timberwolves (25-21, 25-21, 17-25, 23-25, 15-11).
Falling into the losers bracket, the Saints found themselves one game away from elimination, facing the Tacoma Titans, looking to avenge a loss in their only meeting earlier this year.
Proving too strong for the visiting Titans with a quick two-set win (25-19; 25-20), MHCC moved on to meet Walla Walla. Defeating the Warriors in their only previous match-up earlier in the season, the Saints went into their elimination match confident.
Unfortunately, the road to repeat ended there as Walla Walla ended their tournament life in three sets (25-17, 21-25, 15-13).
“We fought hard, but we just committed too many unforced errors in the games we lost,” said head coach Chelsie Speer about the tournament losses.
“We finished fourth, which was where we were supposed to,” she added.
Asked whether in general she felt this season was successful, Speer seemed content.
“Myself and the coaching staff were pleased with the performance of our team this season. Dealing with all the pressure of defending a title isn’t easy, and they handled it well,” said Speer.
Speer said that the success of this year’s season was owed in part to many of the second-year players. With a lot of underclassmen, Speer said the veterans helped the freshmen buy into the program.
Though the team failed to repeat this year with a team full of younger players, the program can look forward to more success in next year’s season.
“Next year, we can probably improve our consistency as far as being a confident group goes,” said Speer when asked what they can improve on for the following year.
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