The re-tooling comes from the fact that Amanda Lee's commitment to the Naval Academy scholarship means that she will not be accompanying the team to California.  Instead, she will be reporting for basic training in late June.  In her absence, the team will have to fill the void as, in recent tournaments, Amanda has been our leading scorer from the back line, and one of our top offensive producers.

Julie Henderson continues to mend from her softball injuries, and at this point, we are unsure how much she can handle.  This left 8 girls for this weekend's tournament that featured the top finishers from last weekend's Emerald City Tournament in Seattle.

Cowlitz began with a tense three-game match loss to Kent Jrs.  As we made adjustments, we committed too many unforced errors.  We then moved on to the Washington Volleyball Academy team.  We were more comfortable with the new lineup and managed a three game victory.  Brooke, Melissa, Steph and Katie led the offense, Tara and Lindy stepped up big, and we managed the victory.

The Relentless Pursuit match was interesting indeed.  This is a highly skilled, aggressive 16's team, with only one previous loss to an 18's team.  We worked very hard in game one and came from behind to win 26-24.  Tara had an amazing service run in game two and for whatever reason, we were really on our game, made very few mistakes and won 25-10.  This gave us a second place finish in pool, and a bye in the first round of the 12 team playoff bracket.

Four-and-a-half hours later, we finally took the court again.  It was ridiculous.  We took Space Needle very seriously in game one, and behind two big service runs from Michelle, and the awakening of Lisa, we stomped them.  The ensuing let-down resulted in Space Needle competing very well against us in game two until Stephanie and Brooke took over the net.  A score of 25-16 was as close as they got.

The semi-finals was a re-match with Relentless Pursuit.  We did not play as well as we had done earlier, but still went three games, losing 22-25, 25-18, 9-15 to end our 11 hour day.

It was an impressive first run of the new lineup.  We will now fine-tune it in the coming weeks.  Look for the great things down the road.  Next up is the Pre-Festival Tournaments hosed by Cowlitz on June 15 and 16.

Julie Henderson also pitched all four games for Mossyrock as they defeated Morton in the State B softball finals in Wenatchee.  Julie suffered a serious knee injury in last weekend's Regional semi-final, and was only able to move up and back while pitching.  She struggled through as their only pitcher but was unable to play for us.

Congratulations to our State Champions, and to Kate Sorensen who traveled to the State track meet as a member of the 800 meter relay for Kelso track and field.

<< Sunday >>
Now close to full strength (minus Julie), we raised the bar with some very competitive games with top northwest teams.  The match with Puget Sound was an absolute thriller, and attracted quite a crowd.  Both teams were banging, digging and scrambling in a match of epic proportions.  The score of 31-29 is the second longest rally score match in Club history.  Fans went away happy with this top-notch effort.

Stephanie and Brooke did major damage at the net.  They were both practically unstoppable.  The difference in the wins and losses on this day came down to the fundamental skills of the game.  Tara and Lindy ran the offense, and Michelle took over the libero duties for the first time in her career and did an amazing job.

<< Monday >>
Semi-recovered from their softball tournament, Lisa and Jessie kicked in with big days.  The match vs. Kent Jrs was quite a battle, and was decided by some interesting calls to be sure.  Kent Jrs is an extremely talented, quick and aggressive team.  We missed a couple of opportunities, but recovered to win the Silver Division and 5th place crystal.

Amanda Lee will be washing the knee pads for the last time.  Her commitment to the US Naval Academy will not allow her to travel to the Festival Tournament with us.  She definitely went out in style.  Playing on a slightly pulled groin muscle, she careered out both defensively and at the net.  Brooke came within a whisper of making the all-tournament team for her dominating offensive weekend performance.

It was a long day with our match being the last one contested at Hec Edmundson Pavillion on the campus of the University of Washington.  The new Dempsey Indoor Facility housed 16 courts and was quite a sight to see.  All in all, a very hotly contested weekend tournament with the team stepping back on the courts for the first time in a month.  Next up is the Puget Sound Tournament this Sunday at Fife High School.

The day began with a 25-14, 25-13 victory over the Blues of St. Mary's Academy of Portland, followed by a 25-20, 23-13 win over Rimrock of Prineville, and culminated with a 25-18, 25-23 win over 3rd seeded Nike Northwest Juniors Power of Gresham.  The seeds were determined from the results of four previous power tournaments specifically designed to determine seeds for Regionals.

Leading the ball control charge were Katie Sorensen and Michelle Allen, setting by Lindy Dhulst and Tara Andrews, and attacks by Stephanie Storedahl and Brooke Clark with 23 and 13 kills respectively.  Jessie Buck and Lisa Langmade made the most of their opportunities with Jessie at the net and Lisa at the service line.  Amanda Lee added defensive specialist to her resume in the absence of Julie Henderson.

Sunday action will begin with a "prove it" match, low seed vs. high, with the winner going into the top 8 team bracket which will begin double elimination play at 10:00 am.

<< DAY 2 >>
Cowlitz ASICS picked up the pace Sunday after a stellar first day of competition at the Championship Regionals in Vancouver, posting its best Regional finish in the past five years with a fourth place finish.  Fifty-six (56) teams represent the Region's 18's, with 16 qualifying for the two-day event.  ASICS' only losses were to the eventual Regional Champions Nike NW Jrs Air Elite (14-25, 15-25) and Nike NW Jrs Impact (20-25, 14-25).

Starting at the sixth seed, the team managed to climb to third before settling in with a very solid fourth place finish in one of the nation's top volleyball regions.  The morning began with a "prove it" match as ASICS was paired with Rimrock for a second time.  Rimrock scored the first four points before Cowlitz took over and dominated scoring 25-9, 25-8, vastly improving on their 25-20, 25-13 scores vs. Rimrock on Saturday.

Next up was Salem VBC, a team that has had a great season, both regionally and nationally.  They are big, strong and very athletic -- it was no contest.  Cowlitz was on fire, led by Lisa Langmade and Stephanie Storedahl blocking most everything sent in the direction of our court.  Anything that made it to our court was skillfully re-directed by Michelle Allen, Katie Sorensen and Amanda Lee in the direction of our setters, Lindy and Tara.  After that it was lights out, courtesy of Brooke and Jessie.

The Salem match may have been our best effort of the year -- we totally dominated with a 25-12, 25-14 victory, at one time leading game two 18-4.  Stepping into the semi-finals, we met our match as Air Elite sent us packing.  We were flat in our passing, were the victim of some questionable calls, and just did not play well.

In true double elimination, all is not lost, and we proceeded to the "sudden victory" bracket where we met Webfoot Gold of Eugene.  We had locked up with Eugene just two short weeks ago in a classic struggle that we lost in overtime, and this match was more of the same.  We led 11-5, only to suffer a loss of ball control that found us trailing 11-17.  It got worse from there, and after timeouts and substitutions were exhausted, we found ourselves down 18-25 before Lindy, Tara, Brooke, Stephanie and Michelle said "No More!".  The result was a thrilling 26-24 win (our second in two weeks).

In game two, we maintained our momentum and won an extremely hard fought game two, 25-21.  This was an amazing game as well.  Webfoot is extremely tall, but a turning point for us was an outstanding dig by our 5' 5" defensive specialist Julie Henderson.  Fourth place secure, we took on Nike Impact and could not maintain, falling 20-25, 14-25, bowing out with a Regional match record of 6-2.

The team will take three weeks off from the gym to finish the school sports seasons, senior projects, etc before regrouping in May for the stretch drive to The Volleyball Festival in the greater Sacramento, California area in late June.

Thanks to moms, dads, boyfriends and grandparents who have faithfully followed this team all season long.  You are awesome!!!

Most notable would be the marked improvement in serving from Lisa Langmade who recorded a team tying 10 aces while serving at 95%.  This is an are that Lisa has worked hard on in recent weeks.

Kate Sorensen is our best passer and has moved to libero in recent weeks, recording an astounding 2.68 passing mark on 66 attempts.

Michelle Allen shored up her passing to compliment her solid offense (53% kills) and 10 service aces.

Tara Andrews is back in her 6-year position as setter and is settling in after two weeks of practice.  Her predecessor at setter, Jessie Buck, has solidified our right side attack, scoring in just her second outing at that position.

Brook Clark established a club record 59% kills, scoring 24 in only four matches.

Stephanie Storedahl was third at 47% on 53 attacks, and contributed solid defensive numbers as well.

Lindy Dhulst is like a fine wine, getting better with age, who continues to lead the team in assists, service aces and points scored.

Amanda Lee played some additional back row time to compliment her front row skills, and was spelled by Julie Henderson, who also saw time at libero.

All 10 players contributed to the championship run as they defeated top-seeded North Shore in the finals, and second-seeded Mt. Baker in the semi-finals.

The Regional Championships will feature the top 16 teams in a two-day competition this Saturday and Sunday at the Vancouver HOOP.  Seeded 6th going in, ASICS has plans to move up.

Due to team composition issues, we have had to revamp the lineup.  In spite of this, the team responded well in the difficult Gold Division.  Our goal was to continue familiarizing ourselves with new positions, compete hard, and improve on our effort and results from February.  The day was a rousing success.

Three kids played in new positions, with Tara Andrews returning to setter from libero, Jessie Buck playing front-row right-side instead of setter, and Julie Henderson taking Tara's libero spot for part of the day, splitting left-back duties with Kate Sorensen.  Amanda Lee had a career offensive day, and stepped up big in a defensive role in the tournament's final two matches.

Stephanie Storedahl and Brooke Clark led the offensive charge with help from Michelle Allen and Lisa Langmade, who had a markedly improved serving game to go along with her blocking wall.  Lindy Dhulst continues to be our most consistent server / point-getter while setting a very steady tournament for us.

We have positioned ourselves for the Regional Tournament competition in two weeks, likely as the 7th seed out the original 54, hopefully moving up at that time.

The two day tournament format featured 36 teams competing in two complete pools before entering bracket play on Sunday afternoon.  After sweeping their first five opponents, Cowlitz dropped the first game to Washington Volleyball Academy from Seattle, which proved unfortunate when final brackets were arranged.  Although the team rebounded to win the match, any opportunity to move up beyond fourth seed was dashed by the one game loss, which paired Cowlitz against Nike NW Jrs Air Elite in the semi-finals rather than a possibility of meeting them in the finals.

The tournament saw the continued emergence of Rachael Mortek as a force to be reckoned with on the net.  Rachael tallied 18 kills in two days of competition.  In early January, she only managed to 6 kills in three days of competition.  Rachael also passed at a very high rate. 

Defensively, Tara Andrews was very solid at libero with 92 passing attempts and 61 digs.  Not bad for a converted setter!  Kate Sorensen's instincts on defense are second to non with 46 digs, many of them spectacular in nature.  Leading the defense in the blocking department were Lisa Langmade with 17 stuff blocks, followed closely by Amanda Lee with 15.  This duo also combined for 47 kills. 

Brooke Clark, playing in only 5 of the 8 matches after taking the SAT on Saturday, managed a team-leading 35 kills with a success rate of 43%.  Stephanie Storedahl received the most opportunities for kills and finished the tournament with 30 kills, 12 stuff blocks and 36 touch blocks.

Add to the mix Michelle Allen with 42% in kills and top passing and dig numbers and you can see why we excelled.

One cannot talk about this tournament without mentioning the relentless pursuit of the ball by setters Lindy Dhulst with 94 assists, 18 aces and 51 points scored, and Jessie Buck who came on with a fabulous Sunday of serving with 11 aces and 43 points to compliment her 50 assist tournament.

Our utility player seeing action at setter, defensive specialist and libero was the ever-energetic Julie Henderson who cannot be out-hustled on the court.  Her intensity is contagious.

Next up is the Power League in April where the team has reconnected with the Gold Division, and looks forward to the battle that is always brewing in the ever-competitive Columbia Empire Region.

The morning pool kicked off with a victory over Team V-Ball Hapa.  The team was led by Julie Henderson, who made solid contributions throughout the match.  Kate Sorensen took charge in the next match against Nike NW Jrs Force, keeping the team in a competitive position.  The final pool match saw ASICS dominate Rimrock from start to finish, highlighted by some great attacks by Lisa Langmade and the continued offensive presence of Rachael Mortek.

Bracket play paired up ASICS against a familiar rival in Cascade Excel.  Despite the Cascade team coming out with a lot of energy, ASICS countered with an intensity of their own in claiming the victory.  Standout play included Kate Sorensen displaying terrific serving and back-row defense, Stephanie Storedahl putting up intimidating blocks, and Lisa Langmade hammering some thunderous kills to go with her improved serving.  The championship game was a rematch against Nike NW Jrs Force.  A motivated ASICS team wasted little time in claiming victory.

Throughout the tournament, ASICS was led by Jessie Buck with her outstanding overall play.  Lindy Dhulst has continued to impress with her steady serving and setting.  On defense, Amanda Lee contributed with timely blocks.  Offensively, Brooke Clark was unstoppable, recording numerous kills when called upon, and Michelle Allen has emerged as a threat at the net as well.

Next up for Cowlitz ASICS is the popular Northwest Juniors Jamboree in Yakima, WA.

The tournament was an opportunity for the team to return to the courts to test areas of our game that we had worked on since returning from Las Vegas.  Our ball control game and termination skills left us at the end of the Las Vegas tournament as we went 5-2 after reeling off 5 straight victories to move to the 20th seed out of 224.

Ball control was key in our victories on Sunday over Cowlitz 16 Black and Cascade Excel.  These were intense competitions with ball control the key to winning. 

Leading the passing and defensive charge were Michelle Allen, Kate Sorensen and Tara Andrews.  Running the offense with increased vigor were Jessie Buck and Lindy Dhulst, with Jessie having several serving runs of significance in the Cowlitz 16 Black and Cascade Excel matches.  Brooke Clark was the offensive catalyst with an almost unstoppable onslaught of kills.  She pounded past and through the block with amazing regularity.  This was also complimented by her renewed attention to ball control.  Michelle Allen also came in to lift the team with her serving in a tense segment of the Cascade Excel game, breaking it open with her swings from the service line.  She has been working diligently on her net game, and it is beginning to show.  After being virtually ignored offensively in Las Vegas, the setters fed Rachael Mortek a boatload of sets which she converted at will.

It is now off to Medford, Oregon where the entire collection of 18's teams in three regions will gather to compete in the March Power League next Saturday.  A breakout tournament is expected by the ASICS team.