It was a much shorter district tournament than Auburn Riverside volleyball was expecting or hoping to have on Nov. 14 as the Ravens lost their first two matches and were eliminated before the second day.
Auburn Riverside got out to a sluggish start this season, winning just one of their first five matches, but figured it out down the stretch and finished fourth in the NPSL behind Mount Rainier, Kennedy Catholic and Tahoma.
Apart from Mount Rainier, Auburn Riverside split the season series with both Kennedy and Tahoma. The losses to those schools came in five sets, but the Ravens’ first matchup was with the SPSL regular season leading Emerald Ridge Jaguars.
“I think we competed well.I think I just refused to believe or let the girls believe that we were the underdog (against Emerald Ridge) because I think we are such a talented team. I think that on any given day, any given team can come out on top,” Head Coach Heidi Hillis said.
Auburn Riverside was the 14th seed and took on the third-seeded Jaguars, but just were not able to generate much momentum.
In the first set, Emerald Ridge was dominant in the auxiliary gym at Bethel, taking the set 25-12. Of all the sets played, this was the lone outlier as far as scores were concerned. The other three sets, including the one that the Ravens actually won, had a margin of victory of just over 5 points.
“Looking at what we asked of them in terms of looking at film and scouting reports of what we asked them to execute, I think they did a good job,” Hillis said.
Georgia DePiano (left) and Quinci Wilder (right) go up for the block. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Auburn Riverside flipped the switch in the second set and really handled everything Emerald Ridge had thrown at them. The two sides were close with the Ravens, leading 7-5 early, but a good stretch of play put the Ravens in front 14-8 and they never looked back. Auburn Riverside cleaned up in set two 25-17, but that was all of the highs against the Jaguars.
“I think we had our best blockers in better positions and made some lineup changes in that second game. I think that gave us more of an opportunity. We told the girls straight up after the second game, ‘Look what you guys can accomplish, that team is not unbeatable, you guys can do it. You’re doing it.’ We asked them to believe in that and the information we were giving them,” Hillis said.
There was also a bit of relaxing in the moment and understanding the task at hand in the second set. “I think they just finally settled in during that second set. It’s the first game here (at districts) and some have never been here before. They started playing our game, for sure,” Assistant Coach Anastazia Edmond said.
In the third set, the Ravens were playing from behind the whole set, down by as many as six points (15-9) midway through. The Jaguars held off a late push from Auburn Riverside and won the second set 25-20.
Kate Danielson preps for the kill attempt against Emerald Ridge. Ben Ray / The Reporter
The final set against Emerald Ridge was of a similar vein. The two sides were tied or separated by one point seven different times throughout the set, but Auburn Riverside could not win back-to-back points to go on a run. Emerald Ridge won the fourth and final set 25-22 to advance to the district quarterfinals and eventually the state tournament.
Auburn Riverside then was tasked with Tahoma for the third time this season. The two split the regular season series with Auburn Riverside winning the most recent matchup in five sets back on Nov. 6, their last game before the district tournament.
But Tahoma would beat the Ravens on Nov. 14 and eventually miss out on the state tournament by a single game.
Auburn Riverside will go back to the drawing board as now it’s been back-to-back seasons of missing out on a trip to the Yakima Valley SunDome for the state tournament.
