Bodies were hitting the floor like an early 2000s nu metal concert as McNary and West Salem volleyball clashed on Tuesday night. And in the end, it was the Lady Titans who stood victorious.
Everything was left on the court from both teams in the four-set match where all but the final set were decided by just two points as West came away with the 3-1 win (23-25, 31-29, 29-27, 25-20).
It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort on the McNary side.
Taylor Detrant, Piper O’Farrell and other Lady Celts dove to the floor a number of times in attempts to keep the ball alive.
Meanwhile, the front line combinations of Taylin Wright, Jae Wilcox and Shyanne Kampstra kept control at the net, and prevented West Salem’s big hitter Lauryn Johnson from impacting the game early on.
Johnson, a senior, came into Tuesday night among the state leaders in kills, averaging 4.1 per set with a kill percentage of more than 40%.
The final point of the first set came on a block from Wright following a long rally.
It was the first set win for McNary in three matches after sweeps from South Salem and Sprague. Unfortunately for the Lady Celts, it was also the last set they would win on Tuesday, though they had opportunities in the second and third sets.
They led by three late in the second, and were up 23-21 before West Salem took the set 31-29.
In the third set, McNary was up 20-13 before a West Salem time out. West cut into the lead as Johnson and the Lady Titans began to heat up, and eventually took the set 29-27, and seemingly the momentum for the night.
West led most of the fourth set, building up their largest lead of the evening with the five point set win.
The loss marks the third straight for McNary as they fall to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in Central Valley Conference play.
The Lady Celts will get some chances to iron things out with their first mid-season tournament coming up on Saturday at Sprague.
Next week they have two road matches scheduled, first against North Salem on Tuesday, and then at South Salem on Thursday. McNary defeated North Salem 3-0 in their first meeting this season.
