SOAP LAKE – The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors earned a 3-1 victory over the Soap Lake Eagles volleyball team Tuesday evening. 

“It was an incredible match, we battled, and we needed to battle because Soap Lake is a quality team,” said the Warriors’ head coach Katie Walsh. “They had offense, they had defense, every ball it felt like every opportunity we tried to put down, they were putting up, and they were attacking with consistency.” 

The Eagles started the evening off strong, winning their first set 25-22, but the Warriors quickly rebounded in the second set to win 25-18. The Warriors won the next two as well to end the game 3-1. 

“I was really proud of the girls, it being their first match of this season and we played a tough team, so it was a really fun game,” said the Eagle’s head coach Niki Noble. 

On the Warriors side Naomi Molitor earned four aces and 11 assists, Emma Brummett had nine kills and ten blocks and Grace Okamoto earned 32 digs. 

For the Eagles, Liana Sushik had ten kills, Brooke Dana had five kills, Marina Zubritskiy had four kills and Sage Hart had seven kills along with perfect serving. Miley Dana also had perfect serves throughout the game and 23 assists. 

Noble said the team got to see the effective results of their conditioning in this game and all the players had a strong mental fortitude in each of their sets.  

“When you run out of steam you kind of lose your mental strength in that time and we’ve been working on that this year,” said the Eagles’ coach. “I think it put into perspective why that’s so important in practice.” 

As the Eagles prepare for their next game, Noble said they are going to put a focus on their defensive play by covering their hitters and picking up blocks like they saw the Warriors doing. They are also going to be working on serving more consistently all around. 

The big lesson for the Warriors after Tuesday was that they just need to work hard on every play and put in their full effort throughout the entire game, said Walsh.  

“We play in a very competitive league in the most competitive district in the entire state,” she said. “If we don’t show up ready to play every single set the other team will take advantage of that.” 

Walsh said the Warriors are going to keep up on making sure they play at full capacity from the beginning of every game as they prepare for the rest of the season. 

The ACH Warriors will play at home in a double header Sept. 13 with the first game against Neah Bay starting at 10 a.m. The Eagles next game will be on the road Tuesday at 6 p.m. 

BOX SCORE: 

ACHS: 22-25-25-25: 3 

SPLK: 25-18-21-9: 1 

ROSTER: 

ACH Warriors 

Name, Jersey, Position 

Emily Evers, 2, RS/OH 

Mallory Isaak, 4, OH/DS 

Dani Isaak, 5, S 

Elle Schwartz, 6, DS 

Naomi Molitor, S/RS 

Josie Bayless, 10, OH 

Peyton Roberts, 11, MB 

Abbi Edwards, 12, OH/RS 

Emma Brummett, 13, MB 

Madison Brink, 17, DS 

Savannah Monson, 21, OH 

Hannah Brummett, 25, MB 

Grace Okamoto, 28, L 

Soap Lake Eagles 

Mylee Dana, 1, S 

Olivia Noble, 2, MB/RSS 

Ellie Schopf, 3, Back 

Sage Hart, 4, MD 

Liana Sushik, 5, OH 

Tanya Zubritskiy, 6, RS 

Marina Zubritskiy, 7, OH 

Maryanna Miller, 9, LB 

Brooke Dana,10, MD 

Alyson Zufall, 11, S 

    Soap Lake senior Liana Sushik prepares to serve the ball during one of the volleyball team’s practices. Head Coach Niki Noble said she was proud of how her team played against a tough opponent like the ACH Warriors.
  

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors volleyball player Naomi Molitor serves during a game last season. Warriors Head Coach Katie Walsh said they battled against a quality team like the Eagles.
  

    Brooke Dana, Soap Lake, readies to hit the ball back to her training partner during volleyball practice. Dana recorded five kills against the Warriors on Tuesday.