Columbia volleyball in fifth place with key match

WHITE SALMON — The Columbia High School volleyball team remained in fifth place in the Trico League standings with one regular season match remaining at Stevenson on Oct. 28.

The Bruins lost 3-0 at Kalama on Oct. 21 and then split two matches at home against Castle Rock on Oct. 23. The first match against the Rockets was the resumption of the two teams’ Sept. 30 match. Castle Rock was leading 2-1 in sets, and 23-19 in the fourth set, when the match was stopped because of a power outage.

The visitors closed out the resumed match with a fourth-set win, 25-20. But the full match that followed was all Columbia, boosted by its vocal student body section. The Bruins won 25-19, 25-17, 25-23.

Castle Rock finished the week in fourth place in the Trico at 7-6. Columbia is 6-7. Castle Rock finishes its regular season with a match at third-place Kalama.

The middle of the Trico volleyball pack is fairly balanced, as attested by the set score between Kalama and Columbia. The host Chinooks won 25-18, 25-14, 25-22, but Columbia held leads midway through the first and third sets.

The Castle Rock-Columbia match was equally competitive. Castle Rock did a good job of shadowing Columbia’s go-to outside hitter Sara Miller, which led to key Bruin points coming from arguably unconventional spots. Columbia had built a 22-16 lead and benefited from Bella Hamilton tip points and a Castle Rock service error to close out the second set.

In the third set, Columbia’s defense saved numerous points for the Bruins. It was 17-12 after Bruin Julia Mullinix delivered a service ace. The highlight of the next point was Mullinix digging a blistering spike, followed by reaction tips from Hamilton and Fiona Grabb to keep the point alive.

It was 19-13 Columbia when Castle Rock went on a 5-0 run. Columbia used a timeout and built another small cushion, 22-19, behind Grabb’s tip point and a Joella Posini kill off a good Hamilton set. The Bruins then fought off another Castle Rock comeback to win the set and match.