KENNEWICK – Losing was just part of the hurt. Doing without the injured team leader made it hurt that much more.
The Auburn Mountainview volleyball team had a short stay at the state 3A championships as the Lions were eliminated in two matches at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. The Lions, looking for the first state trophy in the school’s four-year history, finished 30-7.
The Lions dropped their tournament opener last Thursday morning to Shorecrest in four games, 25-19, 25-11, 21-25, 25-23. Auburn lost the service of all-South Puget Sound League setter Megan McBride to an injury in game one, and fell to Mount Si in the consolation quarterfinals, 28-26, 25-11, 20-25, 25-21.
McBride, who has signed with Oregon State, was hurt when she took a hard-hit ball off the left shoulder in the third set of their first-round loss to Shorecrest. Afterward, she complained of blurred vision, headaches and nausea, and trainers advised her not to play against Mount Si. It was the only match she missed in her record-setting, four-year career at Mountainview.
The family was told that the hit temporarily stopped blood flow, then caused a rush of blood to her head, leading to her symptoms.
McBride was in the locker room when the match against Mount Si began, and told the Tri-Cities Herald, “Listening to everyone out there – oh yeah, it’s tough,” Shortly after that, she was taken to Kennewick General Hospital for evaluation.
The injury left Lions coach Momi Bowles scrambling. She moved her best outside hitter, Tricia Patton, to setter, sophomore Amanda Mozzone to the outside and freshman Kelsey Fausko to middle hitter.
“The girls played tough out there, no matter how things worked out. We’re a still a new school, but this was our third trip to state, so the girls knew what to expect,” Bowles said. “We won the (West Central 3A) district title, and the girls enjoyed that feeling – they want to feel it again, but we pushed too hard and played it too tight.”
The Lions were completely healthy for the opening match, but they hit the floor looking very flat against Shorecrest. The Scots took advantage of Mountainview’s slow start, jumping out to big leads en route to winning the first two games.
McBride and Tara Patton led the Lions back by playing more consistently at the net in game three, but another slow start in game four allowed Shorecrest to maintain a 5-6 point lead most of the set. Two kills from McBride helped the Lions close the gap near the end of the match before Shorecrest’s Jamie McDonald finished off AM with two kills to end the contest.
McBride had solid numbers with 23 assists, 12 kills and nine digs. The Patton sisters – Tara (eight) and Tricia (seven) – combined for 15 kills for the Lions.
Without McBride, the Lions still managed to put up a battle against Mount Si, coming back from a slow start in game one and pushing the Wildcats to four ties late in the set. The Cats managed to hang on for the win, then easily rolled to victory in the second game.
Mountainview broke open a close contest to win the third game on kills by Alexi Morton and Krystle Hansen, but the Wildcats regained momentum early in the fourth game to close out the match victory. Hansen finished with 12 kills for the Lions, while Tricia Patton had 25 assists and nine kills.
