Screaming Eagles volleyball goes 1-2

REARDAN - After being beaten in straight sets in their three previous matches, the Screaming Eagle volleyball team won their first two sets of the season against 1B opponent Garfield-Palouse Thursday, Sept. 14.

But despite Reardan's two wins, the Vikings won the match 3-2.

In the first set, Reardan freshman Emersen Sprecher was a beast at the net.

Her strong play, both offensively and defensively, helped her team match Gar-Pal point-for-point. After being tied 11-11, Reardan pulled ahead 21-17.

Four consecutive miscues by Reardan allowed Gar-Pal to tie the game at 22-22. Sprecher's block at the net put Reardan up by one point and freshman Lillie Whitman sealed the 25-23 win with an unreturnable serve.

The tables turned in the second set when it was Gar-Pal who took an early six-point lead. The Screaming Eagle rally fell short, and the Vikings won 25-21 to knot the match at 1-1.

Behind the stellar play of Whitman, Reardan's defense took center stage in the third set. Rarely did the ball hit the floor on their side of the net, allowing the big hitters up front the opportunity to score. The Screaming Eagles cruised to a 25-16 win to take a 2-1 lead.

Gar-Pal evened the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth set and won the decisive fifth set 15-11 to win the match 3-2.

Sprecher's all-around play kept Reardan in the match. She led all players with five aces and 18 kills. Defensively, she also recorded 6 digs and two blocks.

Whitman led all players with 15 digs.

Kaylynn Clouse led all players with 16 assists and also recorded three aces.

Amelia Ray was a spark off the bench. She had five aces and six assists.

Tenice Waters was strong at the net, scoring points on six kills.

Gar-Pal was led by Hailey Beckner and Clare Bowechop, each recording ten kills. Kyra Brantner and Elena Flansburg had 13 and 11 assists, respectively.

Payton Pfaff led her team defensively with 13 digs.

"I think we have improved a lot since our last game," Sprecher said. "I think that we're coming together and that this is just the beginning. We need to continue to work on our communication and to become more consistent with our serves."

Reardan assistant coach Mike Lyon was pleased with the improvement he saw.

"We were a lot better today," he said. "100% better. Our passing was really good but we need to get a little more aggressive at the net. We started five freshmen, so we're still a young team. It was a good team effort."

The Screaming Eagles returned to the court Saturday, Sept. 16 and beat non-district opponent Medical Lake in straight sets 25-21, 25-14, 25-20, to win their first match of the season.

Sprecher paced the Screaming Eagles with 12 kills and four blocks. Olivia Wicks and Taylor Yonemura notched four and three kills, respectively.

Whitman led her team with 13 digs followed by Sprecher with 10 and Raegan Soliday with five.

Clouse had a big game on offense with 17 assists, and Rylynn Green added three blocks on defense.

"This is the best game we've played this season," Yonemura said.

She said that a better team dynamic is why the team is improving.

"Last night we went to the Blue Door Theatre and did a bunch of team bonding with improv," Yonemura said. "We are working hard to become better friends, which is making us work a lot harder on the court. We start league play next week and need to continue to get better."

Lyon said the young team "is probably playing over their heads right now and we're asking them to keep doing that."

The match ended with six freshmen on the floor for the Screaming Eagles.

"We've seen improvement in their passing, aggressiveness at the net, defensive positioning and serving," Lyon said. "Now we need to develop consistency in those things in order to get better."

Medical Lake head coach Hailey Van Soest was proud of her team despite the loss.

"Our team is in a growing year after quite a few of our players left after last year," she said. "We are young and didn't have all our players today, but we showed versatility. We need to move our feet better and show greater confidence in order to improve."

Reardan's last matchup of a three-match week was a straight sets loss to Upper Columbia Academy 22-25, 25-27, 17-25 Tuesday, Sept. 19.

The Screaming Eagles are 1-5 this season and play at St. George's Thursday, Sept. 21.