Mission defeats top teams at divisionals, was just one win away

from state

EUREKA - The Lady Bulldogs picked a great time to play their best volleyball, knocking off two great teams in the divisional tournament last weekend and coming within just one win of the state tournament.

"We were a totally different team at divisionals than at districts," Mission head coach Kendal Anderson said. "We were playing as a team and communicating well. Our fundamentals of volleyball were on point."

Mission started things off on the right foot hursday by defeating No. 1 seed Eureka in five sets (19-25, 25-21, 19-25, 27-25, 15-11) behind 12 kills by Sara Nerby and 23 digs by Sydney Allard.

"I think the Eureka win was the best," Anderson said. "We beat the No.1 seed, who had home court advantage and came out of the gate swinging. It was a nice way to let the other teams know that Mission was here and ready to play."

They followed that up with a great win over Bigfork in four sets (25-21, 15-25, 25-20, 25-5) while Loren Erickson ran the offense nicely with 24 assists and attacked with 18 kills. Allard was again solid on defense with 21 digs.

Bigfork wavered in the fourth game and Mission was able to make them pay for it with a 25-5 win.

That put Mission up against a very strong Florence team that had won their 10-C district. On Friday, Florence was able to use their defense in downing the Lady Bulldogs 3-0.

"We knew it was going to be a tough one to win," Anderson said. "Florence is not an easy team to play but we had all of the confidence that we would play as best as we could."

Florence outdug the Lady Bulldogs 84-53 but Mission put up some good offensive numbers. Using a balanced attack, Erickson, Nerby and Jenn Larsson had five kills apiece.

Larson also added two blocks while Sarah Bowers had 12 assists.

That put Mission in the third-place game on Saturday where the winner would clinch a berth in the state tournament.

Mission faced up against Thompson Falls and won the first game 25-16. However, the Lady Bluehawks went on to win the next three games in close fashion.

"If you would have told me we were going to drop three games to Thompson Falls after we beat them in the first one I would have told you you were crazy," Anderson said. "The girls looked amazing in that first match and Thompson was flat. Thompson's coach changed her rotation after the first match and it made all the difference in the world for them. They started lighting it up in the middle and we weren't able to stop their offense."

Stephanie Lewandowski had a career-high 15 kills and also posted 16 digs. Erickson and Bowers both had 20 assists apiece.

Mission capped off the season with another run in the divisional tournament and again looks to continue their rise as a program under Anderson. Mission has certainly shown themselves to be one of the best programs in the western part of the state.

"For all of the ups and down this team had this year, I am most proud that they never gave up," Anderson said. "They always tried their hardest and gave it their best effort and a coach can't ask for much more than that."

The Lady Bulldogs also got tremendous support from their fans as 40 students traveled to their game on Friday on a pep bus chaperoned by Jenn and Lyle Cronk.

"I would like to say a huge thanks to them, the parents and the community as a whole for all of their support this season," Anderson said.