Regional Championship
BRONZE DIVISION
April 30, 2005 @ Eugene, OR

Cowlitz 14 Blue ended a tough season all the way down in Eugene for Regionals last weekend. The coaches set one goal for the girls. To beat their biggest competition of the past few months, Blues Performance. Our opinion was that Cowlitz and Blues Performance were the two best teams in Bronze for Regionals. Unfortunately, while the girls did beat Blues in a very exciting 3 games, they were unable to close the door on Roseburg, Vancouver Lightning, and Oregon City Red. The girls had beaten Vancouver 2-3 times already this season, and Jerry's team was looking for some payback, and they found it by beating us and going on to win the Bronze division. Cowlitz had their chance though (even after getting the short end of the stick on a 3-way tie in pool play), getting teamed up against Oregon City Red in the afternoon single-elimination bracket play. They had already beaten Oregon once this season, and then fell to them in a single game playoff (the one where the Salem coach and her team got the score wrong...). Oregon was 1st in their pool, but Cowlitz came out strong serving them into submission on a quick 25-16 win in the first game. Unfortunately, they were unable to hold on to the lead and the momentum in the 2nd game, and fell 24-26 on 7 straight serving points by Oregon at game point, and then 13-15 in the 3rd game after a late comeback fell short. Had they finished off Oregon, they probably would have had a quick match against Nike, and then proceeded to demolish Vancouver in what would have been the best 3 game nail-biter match of the season, but alas, it was not to be.

Cowlitz fought hard behind the overall play of all the girls. Brittany, Hillary, Whitney, Emily, KC, Serina, Katelynn, Alivia, Justine, Kelly, and Alli all played hard this season, improved on their skills, and got themselves ready for the big, scary world of High School Volleyball (or even cheerleading or softball as the case may be). We wish them all the best of luck and thank them and all the parents for the dedication they showed to the Club and to their team over the long season. And when you start looking at colleges in a few years ... remember, GO COUGS!

-Erik Guttormsen

Players vs. Parents Match
April 24, 2005 @ Longview, WA

The girls from 14 Blue had their parents come to practice at Mt. Solo last Sunday. The parents were in for a hard day, as they had to run 5 whole laps around the court, and then learn all about warming up, stretching, playing pepper, passing, setting, hitting, blocking, and finally some good old 6-on-6 and boo-boo. The parents fought hard behind the height and power of some of the dads, and some hustle, setting, and back-row play of some of the moms, as well as a few brothers. They tried to pick apart the holes, but found only hustle and determination on the other side of the net. Their little 14-year-old daughters showed them no mercy, taking them down in 2 games, even with the parents getting a little help from the Refs. I think the highlight was Hillary's little brother digging one of Brittany's back row attacks one-handed. It was a good time, and the coaches really appreciate all the parents and players that could attend. See you Tuesday.

Erik Guttormsen

Pre-Regional Tournament
April 17, 2005 @ Longview, WA

Cowlitz 14 Blue played very strong in Sunday's Longview tournament, seeded 4th, and ending 4th after a very long day of tough matches. Blue won their first two matches against two tough Vancouver Lightning teams. The first match was against Vancouver's 2nd team, who played very well against a stronger Cowlitz Blue team. The second match against Vancouver's 1st team was very close, with Cowlitz losing the first game by 2 and winning the second by 3 to force a 3rd game. They had to fight hard to stop Vancouver after their 6 point run to take the lead 15-14, but Serina served 3-straight to win 17-15 in a very exciting game (and this was her second game point of the morning).

We then went on to play our two hardest matches against the top seeded Cowlitz Black and Camas Ohana teams. The girls took Camas Ohana to 3 games after edging them out in the first game 26-24 (with Alivia serving the game point ACE), and then falling to some tough hitting 19-25 in the second game. The third game turned out to be just like the Vancouver match, except this time they couldn't get that last push, and fell 15-17. There have been so many 2-point games for Blue this season that we have to be setting some kind of record. Case-in-point…Blue fought hard against Cowlitz Black, but fell 20-25, and then 25-27, even with Alli digging both of Black's big hitters and Emily stuffing them twice.

The end of the day proved to be a very tiring but exciting finish, going three games against both Oregon Reign and Suncats Gold. Cowlitz took the first game and lost the second against a very consistent passing and serving team from Oregon. They showed a lot of heart, coming back from a deficit of 9-3 to win 16-14; conditioning and extra attention to teamwork is paying off. The match was highlighted by a Blue comeback led by Kelli serving five straight points. Later, Emily capped the match with a stuff block. As a side note: a few other coaches were amazed at how high the girls could jump when they are excited. Way-to impress those scouts' girls J! The last match came against Suncats, who Cowlitz had just lost to in the last Power League by two points in order to keep them from their chance to play for a Silver Division spot. The girls were looking for a serious rematch, and both teams put on a good show considering they had been there for almost 12 hours, but in the end the two middle hitters for the Suncats were too much for us. In our first see-saw match in a long time, Cowlitz won the first game by 10, then Suncats won by 10, and then their hitting took over, and after 6 side-outs in a row (Blue wouldn't quit, no matter what they threw at us), we finally fell 11-15, and were able to finally go home and start resting up for Regionals.

Every girl stood out in all six of these matches, but their assistant coach tried real hard to keep track of some real numbers, so here goes…

Hillary had at least 11 kills, including a dump and a dig for kills, as well as at least one ace, and so many hits and passes that I couldn't possibly count them (somewhere close to 50 if you don't count the ones I missed), and some great covering at the net on defense.

Brittany had 32 serving points, with 14 aces (including two game point aces in a row that were called re-dos because of a ball on the court…), as well as sharing the hustle award with Alivia, Whitney, and Katelynn again, with more passes and diving attempts then I could possibly count (it looks like its easily over 70). At the net she had over 20 kills, including 5 of her new favorite dump, and a block and a half, as well as over 30 assists, and at least 100 sets that I counted. As you can tell, we overwork our setters just a little bit.

Whitney had another great day serving, with at least 16 serving points, 4 of them aces, but really stood out with her hustle with almost 50 passes. She even hit 100% at the net, including a couple kills, and her first block of the season.

KC continued to improve on her commanding presence as an outside hitter, hitting the ball successfully over 35 times, with at least 20 of those for kills. That is added to her 16 serving points, 7 for aces, and continued improvement at covering at the net, with 10-15 passes throughout the day.

Alivia continues to put forth so much effort as a setter that she remained red faced in a hot gym for the whole 12 hours (kind of like KC a few weeks ago…he he). Alivia hustled her way to over 60 passes, including at least 5 digs, had over 30 assists and at least 90 sets that I counted, had 15 kills, including a few dumps, and served 46 points, including 21 aces.

Katelynn remained in her role as the exhausted libero with over 50 passes that saved us on more than one occasion. With the assist of our setters she even threw in a couple of her wake up calls from the back row to make sure the other team didn't forget the girl in the different colored jersey.

Kelli stayed tall in the middle this weekend with over 35 hits, including over 20 kills and a couple blocks. To show she could play all over, she served 9 points, including 3 aces, in the last two matches and was the first girl to serve 100% in a tournament.

Alli stepped up this weekend with her serving and her passing, serving 24 points with 7 aces, and was also consistent, serving 93% and serving in every game. This was added to her more than 35 passes, including saving us by being in position even during long rallies when their hitters picked the worst time to hit the back row.

Serina was another strong server and defensive player on Sunday, with 17 serving points and 5 aces, including the two game points from the morning play. This was added to her 30 or more passes, including a few hard digs, and her filling in for one rotation at setter, and getting her first assist of the year. Emily comes in last, but because of her number, not because of her enthusiasm.

Emily did it all this weekend, including 13 serving points with 6 aces, at least 45 hits, including at least 5 blocks and 15 kills, and a little more defense with at least 10 passes covering off the net.

The only girl we were missing was Justine, but hopefully back from some shoulder rehab in a week, we will get to see if she can set a new blocking record in helping her teammates "kick it up a notch" at Regionals.

GO BLUE!

-Erik Guttormsen

Power League - April
BRONZE DIVISION
April 9, 2005 @ Eugene, OR

Cowlitz 14s Blue started off the day quick with a two game win over Oregon City Red. Serving by Alivia, Hillary, Kelli, and Emily led the way, solid passing by Brittany and Katelynn and setting from Alivia and Brittany set them up, and KC, Kelli, Hillary, and Emily put them away. It wasn't perfect, as the girls let Oregon fight back a little, but overall finished them off in two games to get ready for Blues Performance, who they have already played this year, and Suncats Gold. These two teams proved to be too much though, as Cowlitz again fell victim to the dreaded "two point loss," falling 24-26 and 23-25 to Blues, and then 27-29 and 18-25 to Suncats. In the games against Blues, Katelynn, Alivia, Whitney, and Brittany stood out with their hustle, and Kelli, Emily, and Hillary stood out again at the net. In the games against Suncats, the girls fell victim to a big middle hitter who picked apart any space we weren't covering, but Hillary's serving, great setting from Alivia, and passing from Whitney and Katelynn stood out. I know the girls would have loved a third game shot at both these teams, but it was not to be, and they fell to third in their pool with no chance to get back up to Silver for Regionals.

Blue handled the disappointment well, and realized that they needed to win their first afternoon match in order to remain in Bronze. They came out firing against Roseburg Jodi, another team they have already played this year, with two hot serving runs from Emily in the first game, racking up another double-digit serving performance on the year. Brittany and Alivia added at least 5 assists apiece, along with KC, Brittany and Kelli's multiple kills. Hillary took over serving in the second game, helping the girls to the winning side of a 2-point game. Dumps and assists by Brittany, kills by Justine and KC, hustle by Alivia and Katelynn, and blocks by Emily and KC proved to be too much when compounded by the defense of Justine, Hillary, Brittany, Kelli, Emily, KC, Alivia, and Katelynn. Everyone covered much better in the second game even though the score was closer than the first, and the girls showed they deserved all the compliments they have been getting.

The final game of the day for Cowlitz Blue was against Oregon City Red again, and a long day, tough play, really tough (and shall we say…incorrect) calls by the refs, and a scorekeeping error, proved to be too much for the girls, as they fell 23-25 to get 6th place. Fortunately we all know the score was 23-23, so a tie doesn't feel so bad. That tie was brought about by Alivia's hot serving, more kills from Emily and KC, more great defense from Katelynn, Whitney, and Serina, and more awesome setting from Alivia and Brittany. The girls maintained a Bronze position for Regionals, placing between 20th-22nd overall out of about 80 teams. Even more importantly, they were able to take their losses as graciously as their wins (even when their assistant coach couldn't) and finish the day with great attitudes, and looking forward to another tough Tuesday practice and their last two tournaments this month.

-Erik Guttormsen

Mid-Season Tournament
March 20, 2005 @ Longview, WA

Cowlitz 14s Blue started off Sunday's Longview Mid-Season tourney against North Coast Red. The girls started very strong early in the morning, with strong serving from KC, Emily, and Hillary. KC became the 5th player to hit double digit serves in one game this season. We had consistent passing from Alli, Katelynn, Hillary, Kelli, Emily, KC, Whitney, and Brittany. We had reliable setting from Brittany, as well as a few from Justine and Hillary. And this all led to hitting from Hillary, Emily, Kelli, KC, Justine, and Brittany. And all of this led to a dominating 25-9, 25-10 finish.

Starting off the morning strong was a good confidence builder for Blue, as they took on 14s Black an hour later. Blues showed again that they really play stronger against higher ranked teams, taking Black to three games by coming back strong in the second game. Black and Blue had excellent rallies, with multiple passes and digs registered by everyone on the team, as well as more sets than the assistant coach could count by Alivia and Brittany. Serving in the second game was the high point of the match, with Brittany, Emily, Kelli, and Alivia leading the team to a very exciting win. Unfortunately, Black fixed whatever was wrong, and proceeded to pick apart our serve-receive to show why they are holding strong in Gold this year. Blue finished off the morning of the round robin play against 14s Red with strong hitting from KC, Kelli, Emily, and Hillary, strong serving from Brittany, Alivia, and Whitney, and finally some successful dumps over the net by Alivia, adding two per game to her seven serving points per game.

The afternoon play went the same as the morning, with more strong play against a Gold Division team, Nike Air Elite. These games were similar to the games against Black, with more passes, digs, sets, and rallies then an enthusiastic couple of coaches could keep track of. Brittany added a few successful dumps to an overall good setting day for both setters, the front row wasn't afraid to hit back or get up and block this bigger stronger team, and the back row tried to set a new record for passing. Hillary even set a new passing record with double digit passing in the first game.

The second afternoon match was more of the same, but against a Silver Division Nike Air Max team, and this time, 14s Blue was on the commanding end of the score. Great serving by Emily, Alivia, Whitney, and Brittany, blocks from Emily and Kelli, and passing from everyone, especially Hillary, Kelli, Alli, and Katelynn, led to a couple 25-15 games, and a chance for Blue to take 3rd if they could beat 14s Purple for the last match of the day. This match was a lot of fun, with both teams tired, Blues trying to finish of the pesky 7th graders, and Purple trying to take down those awe-inspiring 8th graders. Serving again by Brittany, Whitney, Emily, and KC, and some intimidating hitting by KC, Hillary, and Kelli, led to 14s Blue finishing off the day moving from 4th seed to finish 3rd. It all came together in the last game point, putting Whitney in to hit outside. The coaches called for the outside set, it was delivered by the perfect pass, set, and a hit (aka "kill" by Whitney) to finish off Cowlitz Purple. What a great way to finish off the tournament for Cowlitz Blue!

An overall exciting day was good preparation for our next Power League in early April, where we will try to win the Bronze Division.

Have a fun Easter off, and don't eat too much sugar. And don't forget, Abby likes Cadbury eggs, and Erik likes the little egg-shaped Whoppers.

-Erik & Abby Guttormsen

Power League - March
BRONZE DIVISION
March 12, 2005 @ Albany, OR

After a strong March start with practice with 18s Asics and then practice with 12 Blues, Cowlitz 14 Blue traveled to the Courts in Beaverton on March 12th looking to try out some newfound confidence. They started off the day 1st in Bronze, but unfortunately ran into the same roadblock that had been plaguing them all season. Teamwork and finishing strong continued to only show up in individual games, rather than in matches. Although Blue played some great volleyball, and showed parents, fans, and coaches alike that they have some outstanding talent, they dropped a few more heartbreakers by that elusive two points they seem unable to dig down and find, and finished 4th to remain in the Bronze division.

The morning pitted Cowlitz against Roseburg-Jodi, Salem-Julie, and Blues-Performance. They had a bye for the first game, which is the game they have had trouble with this year, and then came out strong against Roseburg. They went 3 games, but behind the strong serving of Whitney and Emily, they finished off their first match quickly. Overall there were 21 aces in those 3 games between 4 different girls, with Whitney serving 12 straight points in the 2nd game and Emily serving 11 straight in the 3rd game. Their second match against Salem unfortunately was the opposite, with Cowlitz falling to a weaker team. Strong serving by Alivia, Brittany, and Whitney, and passing from Katelynn, Serina, and Hillary, was not enough to make up for the numerous missed hits that gave the game to the other team. Luckily, the girls bounced back from a tough couple of 2-point losses to play like they had earlier in the morning, and beat the Blues quickly in 2 games. They had more great serving from Whitney and Brittany, along with 10 straight from Alli in the 2nd game (7 of them aces). We also had at least three passes from every single player on the team except Kelli and Justine, and that was because they were outstanding at the net, both recording blocks for points, kills for points, and even a little setting to help out Brittany and Alivia who were both doing triple duty at the net, setting, and playing defense. This all led to a three-way first place tie as Roseburg beat Salem, and with the tiebreaker determined by match W/L percentage, Cowlitz remained seeded #1 in the afternoon.

This led Cowlitz to face Webfoot Silver, who is also having a tough year finishing out their matches, and had moved down to Bronze along with Cowlitz Blue from last month's Power League. This match was to determine which team would move back up to Silver for April's Power League, and unfortunately, Cowlitz Blue's serving isn't enough without being able to serve-receive. Cowlitz lost a tough first game, again by 2 points, and then proceeded to demolish Webfoot in the 2nd game (25-12). Whitney had another great game, with 9 serving points, backed up by Alivia, Brittany, and Emily's serving in both games. We also had multiple kills from Hillary, Kelli, Brittany, KC, and Emily, with another two games of countless assists from Alivia and Brittany. We had even tons of great passes from everyone on the team, led again by Serina, Katelynn, and Alli. But in the 3rd game our missed passes caught up with us, and after being up 13-5, Cowlitz missed 9 straight passes, had only a few serving points, and Webfoot ended up just making less mistakes to beat Cowlitz and move back up to Silver. With their chances of a Silver tournament in Albany in April gone, Cowlitz Blue prepared themselves to try and earn a 3rd place finish in Bronze by going back up against Roseburg for their last game of the day. Brittany was the 4th girl of the day to serve double digit points, with help from Alli, Emily, and Hillary, but again, mistakes plagued both teams, and in the end Cowlitz was unable to finish off another inferior team, and finished 4th in the tournament. The next tournament is in a few weeks here in Longview, and hopefully will give Cowlitz some time to work out the kinks that should enable us to kick some butt (can I say that?) at the end of March. The girls just have to keep remembering what they are capable of when they play as a team, and remember how to play as strong against weaker opponents as they do against stronger opponents (like 18 Asics). The downside of a tough afternoon is the thought of travel time to Springfield instead of Albany in April. The upside is having 3 or 4 weeks to prepare for another Bronze Power League that the girls can win if they just set their minds to it. Finishing first or second will guarantee a top 16 seed and a two-day Regional Tournament. Think about this quote, and we'll see you Tuesday for another fun practice. "There is nothing we cannot live down, rise above, and overcome." - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

-Erik & Abby Guttormsen

Athletes Corner Tournament
February 6, 2005 @ Lower Columbia College - Longview, WA

The 14-Blue team started strong this Sunday, with their first match against Cowlitz 14-Red. They won their first game behind the strong serving of Brittany, Alli, and Whitney, and strong net-play of Hillary, Justine, Emily, and KC. They followed the first game with more of the same, with strong serving from Hillary, Brittany, and Alivia, and great defense from Whitney, Katelyn, Serina, and Brittany. This first match seemed to set the pace for the Blue team, as they registered over 30 aces throughout the day and began to get the feel of the 6-2 rotation behind the setting of Brittany and Alivia.

Their second match in pool play was against East County, and Blue stayed strong winning in 2 games again. Brittany, Hillary, Alivia, Alli, Whitney and Emily were the serving standouts in these two games with all-around good play from all the girls on defense and at the net. It wasn't as easy as the girls would have liked, with plays like Alivia having to slam the ball twice in one play to get the kill, but the girls had the fewest errors out of all their matches this season and finished the match well.

The 3rd match of the morning was against Camas Ohana, and was the deciding match to see who would take 1st and who would take 2nd in our morning pool. Cowlitz Blue pulled ahead in the first match, but was unable to hold off Camas who won by only a few points. Strong serving from Whitney and Brittany and strong net-play from Brittany, KC, and Justine helped us look good against the team that would go on to win the tournament. The second game proved too much for Blue as Camas rallied behind some very strong serving to take 1st in the morning pool. Excellent hustle from Katelyn, Alivia, and Brittany was appreciated by both Cowlitz Coaches, as well as the chance to see some back row hitting from Emily and Katelyn. (We are still waiting for someone to call for the "cheese" though…)

The afternoon brought more exciting volleyball, with Cowlitz Blue being seeded against Cowlitz Purple for their first match. Purple had turned out to be the team to watch after holding their own against the Black team earlier that morning. Age ended up prevailing, as the 8th graders from Blue knocked off the 7th graders from Purple in 2 games. Blue had more aces in these 2 games than in any match this season, behind the serving of Serina, Brittany, KC, Emily, and Kelli. Katelyn pitched in with another back row kill, proving that we've definitely found a strong libero to back up our 2 setters.

Cowlitz Blue finished off their day by matching up against the Black team for the chance to play Camas for the championship. The Blue team showed real heart in battling back after a tough first game loss to beat Black in the second game 25-22. Standouts for the first game were on defense, with Serina, Whitney, Alli, Brittany all registering outstanding digs, and Alivia and KC both registering blocks. The second game the girls took the offensive behind the serving of Kelli, Alivia, Brittany, and Whitney, with Emily adding 3 blocks for good measure. Unfortunately the loss lit a fire under the Black team, and they proceeded to serve everything at us but the kitchen sink and Blue finished 3rd. Another great tournament, with just enough time to catch the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl and soak those aching muscles in preparation for another hard Tuesday practice and Silver Division Power League down in Albany next weekend.

Power League Qualifier
January 23, 2005 @ Mt Hood CC - Gresham, OR

Cowlitz 14-Blue showed "Hints of Brilliance," as one parent put it, taking 3rd in Silver at the 2005 season's Power League Qualifier. The girls started the morning seeded second in their pool, and came out strong in their first game against Vancouver Lightning behind the serving of Emily and Whitney. Unfortunately, it was very early in the morning, and Cowlitz wasn't quite awake enough to keep the momentum in the 2nd and 3rd games. They bounced back later in the morning to beat their second opponent Roseburg in two games behind the serving, hitting, and setting of Alivia, the kills from Alivia, KC, and Kelli, the serving of Whitney, Hillary, Brittany, and Emily, and the passing of Katelyn, Alli, Serina, Brittany, and Whitney. Cowlitz Blue then fell to the top seed in their pool, Nike Air Max, despite the excellent passing from Whitney, Katelyn, and Alli, and the strong play at the net from Emily and Kelli. This loss forced a tie between three teams in the pool, as Vancouver had lost to Roseburg in an earlier match. Roseburg went on to beat Vancouver again in a 15-point tiebreaker, but then fell to Cowlitz Blue behind Brittany's steady serves and Katelyn's tireless efforts as the team's libero.

After this extra long morning, Cowlitz remained in the second spot in their pool, seeding them in the Silver division for the afternoons 2nd wave of pool play, and for next month's Power League tournament. They started out very strong against Webfoot Silver behind the serving of Brittany and Emily (12 serving points in one game, way to go Brittany!), Katelyn and Serina's back row play, and Kelli and Justine's play at the net. Blue's second game (only one game per match in the afternoon) was against a surprisingly strong Canby team. The girls did well, and fought back to get the game close behind the serving of Hillary and Alli, and the passing of Hillary and Serina. Their comeback fell a little short, which brought them to their last game of the day against Mt. Hood Black. Despite the strong serving of Whitney, Alli, and Hillary, Brittany's sets, and Katelynn, Brittany, and Whitney's hustle in the back row, the girls weren't able to hold on to their lead, and ended up 3rd in the afternoon pool play. After 10 hours of volleyball, long rallies, tiebreakers, and 3rd games, the girls were a little tired, and are looking forward to some morning rematches against Canby and Mt. Hood.

The girls will be back in the gym Tuesday, to work on some more covering, passing, and serving to get ready for their first tournament in February, and Yakima later next month. Check the Cowlitz main page for links and tournament info as soon as it becomes available. (And if the girls are reading this, there might be a little running to build up some needed end of the day endurance. Overall, the girls all did well, and hope to make a strong showing representing Cowlitz in Power league this year.

Pre-Qualifier Tournament
January 9, 2005 @ Longview, WA

Cowlitz Blue was strong in its first tournament, looking for a little pre-season warm-up, and exceeding their own expectations by finishing 3rd after beginning the morning seeded 7th. After defeating Cascade Strike in 2 games behind the strong serving of Brittany, and Power Surge Rocky in 2 games behind the strong serving of Brittany, Hillary, and Kelli, they finished the morning dropping a heartbreaker to Nike Power to finish 2nd in pool play. The girls fought back after a close 1st game (21-25) to win the 2nd game 25-23 behind some great serving from Kelli, Hillary, and Alivia, and kills from Emily and Brittany. Nike answered back with some hard serves of their own, and even though Katelynn was all over the court on defense, Cowlitz lost the 3rd game 11-15. The girls got compliments from the opposing parents and coaches on their sportsmanship and their abilities on the court, and all the Cowlitz parents agreed this match was the best they saw all day. Nike is in the Gold Division, and Cowlitz is looking forward to a rematch.

Cowlitz Blue started the afternoon watching Cowlitz Black, who was first in their pool, take care of Power Surge Jordyn, Power Surge's top 14-u team. Then it was Blue's turn to take on Greater Columbia Black, who had won their pool. The girls dropped another heartbreaker 27-29 in the first game and then Cowlitz Blue became the only 2nd place team from pool play to advance to the semi-finals by beating Greater Columbia 25-23 and 15-13 in the final two games. Whitney, Kelli, and Brittany lead with their serving, and KC, Emily, and Justine closed the deal at the net with blocks and kills.

There was no rest for the Blue team, who jumped right into a match with the top seeded West Valley team, and after a tough 1st game, were able to come back to lose by only 4 in the 2nd game. The last 2 games showed them that there were still a few things to work on (covering...), but thanks to the serving of Alivia and the defensive play of Whitney, Katelynn, Alli, and Serina, the girls were able to feel that they finished strong against a good team. West Valley went on to beat Cowlitz Black and win the tournament, so both 8th grade Cowlitz teams finished in the top 3 and the Club couldn't be more proud of all the girls.

Cowlitz Blue enters power league on the 23rd at Mt. Hood Community College. After Black and Blue's strong showings in the pre-qualifier, especially against the gold and silver division teams, expect great things from Cowlitz in the coming months.