With a large home crowd, it was a team effort in more ways than one on Thursday night, as the Eureka Loggers got a must-have win in volleyball to keep their hopes of a second straight league title on track.
The Loggers hosted Arcata in a de facto championship showdown between the two frontrunners in this year’s Pacific League and avenged their only league loss with a straight sets win.
They won 25-12, 28-26, 25-22, coming out strong and setting the tone early in the night with a dominating opening set.
Also in action on Thursday night, the Del Norte Warriors defeated the Huskies in Fortuna, winning in straight sets, 25-20, 25-12, 25-16.
With their win, the Eureka girls leap frog the Tigers in the league standings, improving to 5-1 with two games remaining against McKinleyville and Fortuna, two schools they will be favored to beat.
The Tigers, however, remain well in the chase.
The loss was the first in league for head coach Laurie Griffith’s team, which dropped to 4-1 and has three games remaining, against Del Norte, Fortuna and McKinleyville, and if they can win out, which is very conceivable, they would likely be crowned co-champs.
Surprisingly for two very competitive teams and the two programs that are setting the standard here on the North Coast this fall, both of their league matchups were lopsided and decided in three sets.
A large home crowd helped spur the Loggers to victory in their biggest game of the year so far.
“We had a great crowd tonight,” Eureka head coach Stephanie Napoleon said. “It was electric in the Logger gym tonight.”
The Eureka players were clearly up for the occasion and executed their game plan to near perfection, never really allowing the visitors to gain any momentum.
“I am super proud of the way our team played,” Napoleon added. “We made a game plan (on Wednesday) at practice and they all implemented it and played so well together.
“All 12 of them. Each and every one of them contributed. It was definitely a team effort. You could see the way they trust each other and lift each other up.”
A young Arcata team battled.
“We struggled to get momentum on our side tonight, but the girls played hard and never gave up,” Griffith said. “Eureka had great defense when we were on the attack.”
A pair of seniors continued to set a high standard for the hosts.
Two days after she posted 21 kills in a win over Del Norte, reigning league MVP Tiarah Maualuga had another huge all-around game, finishing with 15 kills, 10 digs and three aces, while Alena Battle finished with a game-high 17 kills and also had a block.
Ramona Dusel also continued to play a key role for the team and finished with 16 digs, 14 assists, four aces and three kills, while Violla Kingsang added 21 assists, seven digs and two aces, and Eddy Hale had 16 digs and a pair of aces.
Zuma Kan also had eight digs, Makenzie Wolff had two kids and two digs, Savanhie Phanhsavang had five digs and an ace, Ezzy Antonio had three digs and a kill, Jade Willoughby had two kills and two digs, Broghan Lorenzen had a dig and an assist and Kylee Secor had a dig.
Colby Eisner led the visitors with eight kills and four blocks, while teammates Ellie White and Betty Miles each finished with seven kills.
Karely Ruiz also had a good night for Arcata, both at the service line and as setter, and chipped in 25 assists and six aces, while Lily D’Usseau paced the defense with 12 digs and also had three aces.
The Eureka JVs and freshmen also won their games to make for a good all-around night for the Loggers and their fans.
At Fortuna, meanwhile, a young Huskies team continued to gain valuable experience.
This year’s Fortuna roster features six freshmen and just three seniors and many of the young players have been making big contributions.
“We knew Del Norte was going to be a tough game. They just are able to dig so many tough balls we put on their side,” Fortuna head coach Jacqueline Maschmeier said. “We had so many nail-biting rallies that just didn’t go our way in the end.”
Temperance Torrez, Leili Guerrero and Bailey Henderson each had two kills in the loss, while Ava Dill and Drew Sturdevant each had two aces.
Defensively, Addie Collenberg finished with a team-high nine digs, while Quincey Sundberg had eight digs and Peyton Shelton had five.
“Our front row was getting hands on attacks,” Maschmeier added. “Reagan Pascascio, Sophia Miller, Leili Guerrero and Ava Dill made Del Norte’s outsides work last night.”
No stats were available for the Warriors.
