Northwest Junior Jamboree
February 26-27, 2005 @ Yakima, WA

Cowlitz Purple was seeded 47th out of 48 teams in the Challenge bracket. We finished in a tie for 15th, and played the best volleyball of our season in Yakima!

Our team has a strong sense of teamwork, we play well as a team, and have done this from our first tournament. Purple has proven a lot to themselves and other clubs they have played; we are a great team!

Highlights from the PM wave on Saturday: We started the day at Roosevelt in bracket "K". We started off against Club Idaho NW; this team went on to take 2nd in Challenge. Talk about some serious tall timber on this team. We started off slow and Idaho took advantage of it; we dropped this match in two 18-25, 18-25. It wasn't our best volleyball of the tournament. Amanda Trochim was our top server with 7 points and multiple assists. Amanda was an awesome server all weekend long! Mixing it up with soft floaters and then, Wham!, nailing the other team with a bullet. Lacie Cadotte played very well in this match as well. With 5 KILLS, Lacie has the best hang time I have ever seen! Lacie racked up a ton of kills in Yakima; cross-court is her favorite place to go! Next up was a team that really stepped up when they played us ... N.W. Jrs. We played well against them and we took the match 25-23, 26-24. This match was a lot of fun to watch ... good volley's! Ranee' Cline and Courtney Calhoun played very well at the net, and Mira Hobson had a couple of nice blocks. Our front row made the difference in this game. Nicole Wilson's service effort was fantastic! Seven points and dishing out the assists. Keisa Tsuda played her best volleyball of the season in Yakima, racking up 3 kills in this game from the right side! Great job! Amanda T. added 9 more points to her day! In our final game of the day, we matched up against the Spokane Suns. Our team was a little fired up to beat this team! We took them out in two 25-21, 25-22. Purple took care of business quickly in game 1, playing great! Game 2 started out a little differently. We were down 11-2, and during a time-out, I reminded them the sooner we beat this team, the sooner we would be going to our team dinner at the Olive Garden. The other team didn't know what hit them. Whammo' 25-22 "We drove it like we stole it" :) We were riding on great serving by Katie Hail ("SUPER KATE") and her positive court leadership and presence! Good job Katie! Courtney stepped up big with 5 kills! Amanda Warren and Emily Geier were absolutely amazing in the back row! I saw them make multiple perfect passes all day, some shocked me that they were there (#1), that they took the shot (#2), and they made the pass (#3) ... "WOW", way to step up girls! I could not have asked for better defense from both of you this weekend! Emily also added some very nice kills with her 10's!

Our pool on Saturday was a tough pool; we were very pleased to come out with a 2 spot! Seeding us in Division 1, our first match of the day was against Grandview (the team that claimed 1st in Challenge). We didn't play well, our serve receive was off, or it may have been their servers were "ON". We dropped this match in two 13-25,19-25. Amanda T. was still firing great serves with 9 points, Katie added 2 pts w/ 5 kills, and Ranee' started to fire up a bit in this game. Getting a lot of touches on the blocks and timing was really starting to be there. Game 2 vs. Cascade, we claimed a victory in two 25-22, 17-25. Ranee' was a force at the net in this game with 3 stuff blocks, 6 points, 4 aces, and 4 kills! WOWSA! She was flat-out on her game for the rest of the day! I hope that it carries over to our Power League. Mira Hobson also came alive in this game, placing some very smart dinks, and nice blocks! Good job "Ida". In Match 3 vs. No Dinx 16's, we dropped in two 23-25, 24-26. Lacey, Nicole and Ranee' combined for 14 points, 19 kills, w/ 7 assists! Very cool! We played with some kids in different positions to rest some tired kids, but we came up short! Due to all the teams being fairly equal in this pool, we ended with a 3-way tie. We finished 3rd. We ended our Yakima adventure with the best volleyball game we played in Yakima. This was a fun game; we just fell 2-points short. We played KJVBC (they went on to claim the bracket and the cool shirts) and dropped the match 23-25, 24-26 :( So close! Ranee' played awesome! The opposing middle and her traded block for block and really volleyed great! Katie was very strong from the left! Amanda and Nicole ran amazing offenses ... "smart"! Emily and Amanda W. played great defense! Keisa, Mira, Lacie and Courtney all contributed to some flat-out great volleyball!

Janet and I were very proud of how well you played! We didn't win a t-shirt, but we won't be seeded 2nd-to-last again! I'm looking forward to some more great volleyball this weekend in Camas!

ASICS Invite
February 20, 2005 @ Longview, WA

Cowlitz Purple played strong this weekend in town. Due to a last minute cancellation by one of the teams, the tournament was run with a best 3 of 5 match. We played a lot of volleyball.

We started the day against a tough serving Cascade Excel. We were not awake enough to see the blistering serve of one of the best servers I have seen this year; hats off to # 14 on Excel. We dropped this match in 3. We had some nice passing by Amanda Warren and Emily Geier, our defensive duo. The girls are trying out a 5-1; it had it's ups and downs over the course of the day. Strong net play by Ranee' Cline and Mira Hobson were highlights of this match. Mira and Ranee' combined for a total of 5 blocks and numerous touches. It's the best blocking they have done this season. Amanda Trochim and Nicole Wilson both served perfect games and ran a smart offense on the court.

South Valley was our next match. They were a team of seven, and a scrappy seven they were. We played pretty well against this team. Our serve receive wasn't as good as it has been in weeks' past. Katie Hail had a great match being a positive team leader and floor captain. Courtney Calhoun with an eye injury was moved to right front, and didn't miss a beat. Courtney had 3 kills and 2 blocks on the right. Way to step up and shut down their on-hand hitter! Lacie Cadotte has continued to be very impressive from our left side. I lost track of how many amazing pancake ups she made this weekend. Lacie racked up 20 kills over the course of the day, and I'm sure I missed a few. Amanda T. and Nicole both started to mix the plays up in this game; I really saw a lot of thinking on the floor by my setters. Amanda and Nicole really looked good all day. A good effort came up short against this South Valley squad dropping us to 0-2.

Our next match was against Cowlitz RED, and as everybody knows Cowlitz vs. Cowlitz is always a good game to watch. Both teams were struggling a little throughout the day with new serve receives and rotations. Purple found it's groove a little sooner claiming game 1. It was a great game to watch ... the girls all know each other, had fun and played well. Ranee' had some flat-out smash mouth kills. Good things happen when you transition off the net and use your approach. :) Our setters both stepped up huge in this game; we had several long rallies and Amanda and Nicole ran their booties off. Nicole had a few nice saves at the net, going higher not lower. Amanda kept the defense guessing by using all of the hitters. Emily had 2 beautiful 10's, 1 ending with a kill. Amanda W. had some perfect passes playing that back line tight! Mira Hobson had 3 blocks and 2 kills with well placed tips. Game 2, Purple was all fired up and took control out of the gate, but couldn't shut Red down. Jumping out to a 6 point lead, thanks to Katie and Nicole, but we let Red right back in. The game was exciting to watch, lots of good volleyball on both sides. Purple held off some tough serving by Cayden Gaston, an awesome save by Alisha Bruce, and some nice kills from Ashley Bjorum and Taylor Beck. Game 3 was another nail biter. Daryl Neu (red) and Ranee' went nose to nose in the middle, both picking up kills and blocks to match each other, They were fun to watch. Good job to both girls. Katie Hail had great serving and intensity throughout the match. Way to go "super Kate"! Lacie picked up 3 more kills going cross court ... hang time is this kid's new nickname. Lacie always does a great good at covering, almost always in the right place at the right time. Red pounced on us with game 3, sending it to game 4. In game 4 all the girls were tired ... playing best of five is tough in a tournament. Both teams started to miss key serves, and there was not as much zip to this game by either team. Purple pulled off the upset in 4.

Our final game of the day was against Cowlitz Blue. Blue had just come off a tough loss to Cascade Excel. Purple had just finished the emotional win over Red. Both teams looked tired, but it was a fun match. A lot of laughing and tough play. Blue won the match in 3 but they didn't wipe the floor with us. We competed. Courtney had a nice block and 2 kills, Ranee and Lacie added to their totals, looking sharp. Red ended the day in 4th place, overall looking "okay" all day. I'm excited about Yakima, hoping to come home with a t-shirt! Go purple!

Power League - February
CONQUEST DIVISION
February 6, 2005 @ Hudson's Bay High School

Cowlitz Purple has some amazing talent, when they put it all together. The girls have a very bad habit of coming out very flat. In our first match against Mt. Hood we were down 2-11 before we started to play our game. Purple came back to take game 1, 25-20. Strong serving by Emily Geier (5 points) and awesome cross court kills by Lacie Cadotte (4 kills) got our game into the swing of things. Katie Hail added 9 points and her leadership on the court continues to be very impressive. We finished off Mt. Hood in game 2, 25-18. Nicole Wilson lead our serving effort (7points) with pin-point serving. Nicole and Amanda Trochim dished out multiple assists. Amanda did a great job of taking control of the court with a little more voice! Nicole continues to be very smart in her choices when she's on the floor. Our setters did a great job all day long!

Our next match was against Cascade Jrs. Strike; this is our third meeting with Cascade, it is a fun match with them. We took the match in two games 25-16, 26-24. Amanda Warren had her best game this season with near-perfect passing. Learning the libero position and feeling more comfortable on the court showed in this tournament. Ranee' Cline was a force at the net all day long, racking up kill after kill; Ranee' added 11 points this match w/ 5 aces! Mira Hobson did well at middle blocker, placing some perfect tips in just the right spots, picking up 2 kills herself. The highlight of this match was our 5' 2" Emily Geier, having to play middle blocker due to no subs left, getting a huge block in the middle! The only person more surprised than Emily was the opposing middle.

Our final game in the AM wave was against Alpine Avalanche. Alpine does not have a lot of power or height, but they cover the court well. We played well against them but came out flat AGAIN going down 2-10. We came back to make it a match but came up short dropping our match 24-26, 25-19, 6-15. Nicole, Amanda T., Emily, and Courtney Calhoun, all perfect severs in this match 32 / 32, 100%. Courtney had her best game at the net vs. Alpine finding the back line and the setter's corner for 5 kills and 2 blocks. Lacie was technically perfect all day long from the left-side adding 6 kills to her total in this match. We played well, our coverage left us hanging out to dry at times, as we got tipped out of this match. After all was said and done we finished first in our pool. We matched up against VBC 16 Blues, and we played okay against them. It wasn't our best game and to beat them we will have to bring our best game. We dropped our first game 21-25; it took a lot out of our team emotionally this game. We started out in a hole again 1 - 8. We didn't rebound in game 2 dropping it 18-25. It was a tough loss, we all really wanted to move up a division! We were close but no cigar! Ranee' added 4 kills, Lacie 3, and Keisa Tsuda chipped in 4 kills. Keisa played very well all day from the right front; Keisa is always up and helps to keep the team motivated with her effort.

In our final game of the very long day we matched up against Mt. Hood, again. We served 100% led by Keisa, 5 points and Mira, & Amanda T. with 4 apiece. Nicole Wilson had 3 kills along with numerous assists. We have a lot to work on for the next Power League trying to mix things up more at the net, & run a few more plays. I was very proud of all the girls, we play very well as a team! We are very competitive with all the teams in our division, looking forward to moving up next P.L.

Power League Qualifier
January 9, 2005 @ Hudson's Bay High School

Sunday proved to be a positive experience for the 16's Purple team, as they rallied together to win 2 out of 3 matches in the morning, and followed that pattern in the afternoon. This team is amazing in its capabilities and its strength as a true "team." These girls know when it is important to win, have fun, and recognize when it's time to put everything else aside and get the job done! Purple was victorious in wins over Salem and Greater Columbia for a variety of reasons: the hitting of the all powerful Ranee Cline, the consistent serving of Nicole Wilson, Katie Hail, and Amanda Trochim and the perfect passing of Katie. With the help of all on the floor, Purple took each match (in three games). North Clackamas, however, somehow had a mental edge over the girls, and ended up taking the second match of the day in only two games.

In afternoon play, things started out interestingly enough, with an 11 point deficit, but as stated earlier, these girls know when to pull together and make things start working and Mt. Hood found this out the hard way! Purple rallied back and won the match, 25-23. Standouts were Lacie Cadotte and Courtney Calhoun (hitting and passing). Next match against Alpine was over before Purple knew what had hit them, 12-25, but after a short break, Purple came back to take the final match against Cascade Strike, 26-24 with strong play from Mira Hobson (nice set to Katie for a kill) and passing from Keisa Tsuda. All in all, after looking at stats, these girls should definitely be proud of their accomplishments for the day. Lacie Cadotte: 16 kills, 10 great passes, 8 points, 6 aces; Amanda Trochim: 3 kills, 5 passes, 14 points, 4 aces; Emily Geier: 2 kills, 3 passes, 6 points, 1 ace; Keisa Tsuda: 2 kills, 2 passes; Katie Hail: 4 kills, 22 passes, 23 points and 4 aces; Renee Cline: 12 kills, 2 blocks, 23 points and 5 aces; Nicole Wilson: 3 passes, 28 points and 7 aces; Courtney Calhoun: 8 kills, 7 points, 2 aces and 2 blocks; Amanda Warren (libero): 5 good passes; Mira Hobson: 5 kills and 5 awesome passes. With stats aside, there is much more to this team than numbers. These girls are showing a respect for one another's skill (and using them) and they are displaying the real secret to being a "team." (They have fun and they are learning more each time they play!) The love for the sport of volleyball is apparent, it's what this team is shaping into off the court that will be the powerhouse that other teams may not experience. What a way to start off a season!

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

Purple 16's came out ready to play, we played the #1 seed in our pool, Greater Columbia Black. We dropped two games but competed well with them. Mira Hobson played well all around, Katie Hail served awesome and had some great defense plays in the back row. This team has meshed so well so fast I was very impressed with all of them.

Our second match went 3 games against Power Surge. We didn't play our best in the first game. Courtney Calhoun and Keisa Tsuda had some nice kills at the net. Amanda Trochim had beautiful sets throughout this whole match, and was killing Power Surge with amazing serves! Amanda Warren did a great job in the back row as our libero, this is a new position for Amanda and she really stepped up! We came back and won the next 2 games to take the match.

The final game of pool play was against Cascade Strike, we played very well. Lacie Cadotte lead the charge in this win, playing great defense and racking up the kills! Nicole Wilson picked apart our opposition with perfect serving, hitting all the holes. Nicloe and Amanda T. both had great floor leadership and a ton of assists. Emily Geier was in a new position for her, playing front row, and she did a great job!

Purple finished 2nd in pool play to move into the Championship Bracket. Cascade Excel (ranked 14 in power league) was our competion. We played alittle intimidated in the first game, we dropped it 22-25. The second game of the match was a very well played match for us, we didn't pull out a win, 23-25. Ranee Cline was the leader in our charge ahead. Ranee plays middle for us and did an amazing job all day at the net and with her great serves!

I was very happy with our first showing and look forward to seeing this team do a lot of great things!