Power League - April
DIAMOND DIVISION
April 2, 2005 @ Eugene, OR

Adidas Spring Classic
March 12-13, 2005 @ Bellevue, WA

Cowlitz 16's Blue posted their best tournament results of the year finishing 5th overall out of 36 teams at the Adidas Spring Classic in Bellevue. The Blue team went undefeated in days of pool play earning them an automatic bid into the top 6 teams. Cowlitz lost their only match of the tournament to Nike NW to finish 5th overall.

On Saturday March 12th, Cowlitz took first in their pool defeating NW JR's 25-21 and 25-16. Cowlitz then took care of business defeating Cascade Black 25-13 and 25-8. In their final match of the day the Blue team finished off YMCA Blaze 25-23 and 25-14.

In the second round of pool play, 16 Blue dropped their first game of the tournament to Bellingham Jrs 22-25 but came back to win the match 25-19 and 15-6. Matching up with YMCA Blaze for the second time Cowlitz made quick work of them again 25-18 and 25-12. In their final pool play match, Blue secured a 1st place finish by defeating Tacoma Ice 25-19 and 25-23. Cowlitz then fought hard but lost two very close games 23-25 and 23-25 to Nike NW.

Overall the entire team played outstanding. The girls played their most consistent volleyball of the year, eliminating serving and hitting errors that had plagued them during Power League. The team also stepped up to the challenge of being short one player and played incredible defense. Outstanding player of the tournament was Stefani Webb-Hail who was solid all-around and really picked up her offensive game as an outside hitter. Natassia Quintrell and Ellen Payne played dynamite out of the middle, leading Cowlitz's offense. Kacie DeRosier and Cassie Jellison ran a much quicker offense this weekend and had dominant net play. Emily Decius had her best tournament of the year, digging hard driven balls and playing all-out defense. Lindsey Thompson and Natassia Quintrell also added to the defense by leading the team in digs and passing. Rachel Fair, who has been an outstanding passer and defender, contributed in the front row as well with smart offensive shots and virtually no hitting errors. Kirsten Hoffman was solid all-around passing and defense as well as providing a powerful offense from the right side. Congratulations on a great tournament.

ASICS Invite
February 20, 2005 @ Longview, WA

Cowlitz 16 Blue had a successful day, finishing a close second in last weekend's Longview tournament. Cowlitz defeated South Valley VBC in the first match of the day, 3-0. In their second-round match-up, Cowlitz Blue was tough against Cowlitz Red, defeating them in 3 straight games as well. Cascade Excel matched up with Cowlitz for the 5th time this season and took the match 3-1. Blue finished out the day with 3 straight wins over Cowlitz Purple.

Cowlitz offense showed huge improvement this past weekend with several players contributing. Ellen Payne led the attack with 33 kills and an outstanding .381 hitting percentage. Lindsey Thompson brought a tough and consistent attack from the outside, powering down 19 kills with only 3 hitting errors on the day for a .444 hitting percentage. Also contributing were Natassia Quintrell with 23 kills and Mandy Clewett with 16. Serving leaders for the day were Natassia Quintrell with 16 aces, Mandy Clewett with 15 and Kacie DeRosier with 11 aces. Defense was solid all around with several players in double figures. Natassia had 19 digs, Mandy 15 digs, Lindsey 15 digs, Kacie with 13 digs and Cassie Jellison with 12. Ellen Payne was unstoppable at the net with 12 stuff blocks. Anchoring serve receive was Rachael Fair with 26 perfect passes and a passing average of 2.27. Lindsey Thompson was solid with 20 perfect passes and a 2.25 average. Natassia Quintrell passed well also with a 2.27 average and 18 perfect passes.

Power League - February
BRONZE DIVISION
February 6, 2005 @ Not Available

Cowlitz 16's Blue started the tournament off right defeating the number one team in their pool, No Dinx. Cowlitz then knocked off the second place team, Washington Volleyball Academy in two straight games. Cowlitz dropped the final game of pool play to a familiar opponent, Cascade Excel. Despite the loss, Cowlitz Blue finished first in their morning pool and had an opportunity to move up to the Silver Division for the next Power League. Cowlitz Blue defeated their next opponent Roseburg in the first game then lost a couple of hard fought games 23-25 and 13-15. Cowlitz matched up with No Dinx again for the final match of the day and lost to take a fourth place finish overall. Cowlitz Blue played their best volleyball of the year so far against some very tough opponents. The players worked hard and the entire team contributed to their success.

Once again, Cowlitz showed tough serving accumulating 38 aces on the day. Servers were led by outstanding player of the day, Natassia Quintrell with 13 aces and Mandy Clewett with 10 aces. Team defense was also strong with many players contributing to the team's 92 digs. Natassia Quintrell led the team with 19 digs, Rachael Fair and Stefani Webb-Hail contributed 12 a piece with Cassie Jellison and Mandy Clewett right behind them with 11 each. Cowlitz had 66 perfect passes on the day and passed for a respectable average of 2.0. Once again, Natassia Quintrell led the Blue team with 14 perfect passes and a 2.0 average. Stefani Webb-Hail, Mandy Clewett, and Kirsten Hoffman were also standouts with 11 and 10 perfect passes and a passing average of 2.2. An injured Emily Decius played sparingly but managed to contribute with a 2.4 passing average and 4 digs. Kacie DeRosier did another terrific job running a 5-1 offense all day as Blue's other setter Cassie Jellison stepped in to fire up the offense as an outside hitter for the tournament. Blue's offense showed immense improvement on Sunday with Kirsten Hoffman hitting a .292 hitting percentage and smashing down 11 kills. Stefani Webb-Hail also had a great all-around tournament and added 12 kills with a .272 hitting percentage. Ellen Payne grabbed 10 kills and was a dominating force at the net with 8 stuff blocks. Cowlitz Blue was without middle hitter Lindsey Thompson for the tournament due to illness and they look forward to her return.

Awards & More Classic
January 27, 2005 @ Longview, WA

Cowlitz Blue started the tournament off with a decisive victory, beating Wind River 25-10 and 25-8. Cowlitz never quite got back on track losing to Nike Air Max 11-25 and 14-25 and then Nike Air Elite 11-25 and 14-25. Blue competed slightly better against Cowlitz Black in their first match up of the season but still lost 18-25 and 12-25. The fifth match of the day was against an equally matched PVC team. Cowlitz lost in the third match and then came back to beat Narrows in two quick matches to end the day.

One bright spot of the day was Cowlitz Blue's serving. They ended the day with 52 service aces, led by Cassie Jellison with 16, Mandy Clewett with 13. Kacie DeRosier was the outstanding player for the day with consistent play all around. Defensively the Blue team was led by Lindsey Thompson, Cassie Jellison and Rachael Fair. Offensively, Ellen Payne led the team in kills and hitting percentage.

Pre-Qualifier Tournament
January 2, 2005 @ Longview, WA

Cowlitz Blue took second in their pool and then lost a disappointing first round match this weekend at the Longview Pre-Qualifier. In the morning, Cowlitz Blue defeated Power Surge Andrea in 3 straight games with outstanding serving and passing. Cowlitz then struggled a bit in a marathon five game match against Olympia 16's. Twice Cowlitz Blue came from behind and scored 8 straight points to defeat Olympia. In the final game, Cowlitz ran out of steam and lost to Olympia, finishing second. In the afternoon, Cowlitz Blue was outsized by a much larger West Valley team.

For the day the team passed an outstanding 2.3 out of 3.0 on serve receive. Solid passing for Cowlitz Blue was anchored by Lindsay Thompson and Stefani Webb-Hail. Natassia Quintrell and Ellen Payne led the serving attack with 12 aces apiece. Blue's offense was run by Cassie Jellison and Kacie DeRosier who both did an excellent job of running plays. Lindsay Thompson led the offense with 13 kills in the first match alone and Mandy Clewett was consistent and strong all day with a kill percentage of 62%. Cowlitz will be competing in their first Power League of the season this Sunday at the Albany Boy's and Girl's Club. They are currently ranked 11th in the region.