Bruins finish nonleague play with home win, forfeit win

The Riverside win and Tenino forfeit improved Columbia’s non-league record to 4-2 overall, with its losses coming against larger Oregon schools: Class 5A Hood River Valley and Class 4A Corbett.

“I’m excited to start league,” Shultz said. “Getting into the challenge of our league.” That challenge will be a daunting one, based on preseason matches. The Bruins were scheduled to open Tri-Co play Sept. 28 at Castle Rock and host Seton Catholic on Thursday. Castle Rock completed its non-league schedule unbeaten.

“It will be a big test this week against Castle Rock, who has servers who are probably better than any we have seen this season,” Shultz said. (Castle Rock has consistently been one of the front-running volleyball teams in the Trico for a number of years.)

The Bruins defeated Riverside Sept. 21 in straight sets to complete their non-league season. Before the Riverside match, Shultz had said she wanted to see improvement in her team’s serve return. That, in part, was a factor in the loss at Corbett. She also said it was time to start adding more elements into the Bruins’ offensive attack. “Get a bit more fancy,” as she put it.

It was mission accomplished — in part — on both fronts. However, “We had a few lapses (in serve return); they got like four aces in a row,” Shultz said. “We’re getting better, but we still had one game where they had a few aces in a row.”

Offensively, Bruin senior middle blocker Hannah Polkinghorn and senior setter Chloe Clifford teamed for some of the sophisticated plays the Bruins will need in order to be successful competing against the upper echelon Trico teams.

“Hannah had a really good game,” Shultz said. “She had 10 kills; so the first time in double digits, as far as that goes. She had a .400 hitting percentage.

“She and Chloe are starting to try and connect on a few of those quick sets. We’re getting better. We just hope those gains will show up against (league opponents).”

Senior outside hitter Chanele Reyes added six kills against Riverside. “Overall, Chanele had a really good game. She had six aces and she passed off serve receive really well. Just watching film (I’ve noticed) she is doing a really good job on defense.”

The Bruins play each league opponent twice and those results will determine the rankings for the district tournament in late October. At district, the top four teams from each half of the Trico will play off in a tournament format, with the top three finishers advancing to the Class 1A state tourney.