Colfax takes Okanogan, tops Reardan in NE play

Colfax again rolled through the lineup of foes, some of them in the A division, to advance to the title round and win Saturday at the Okanogan tournament. The Bulldogs downed Zillah in the championship match, which went to a third decider game. The title win marks the eighth straight time the Bulldogs have prevailed at Okanogan.

After the run at Okanogan, Colfax returned to their home boards Tuesday night and stopped Reardan in three games to bump their league record to 3-0. Colfax defeated the Indians 25-16, 25-12 and 25-8.

Coach Sue Doering credited the Bulldogs with another night of strong serving. They missed just five of 74 serves and hit 21 aces.

The win advanced Colfax to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the league.

At Okanogan, the Bulldogs topped three of four foes in pool rounds and booked a tie with the fourth.

“We seemed to keep playing from behind,” coach Doering said.

Scores in pool play included wins over Toutle Lake 27-25 and 25-23, over Pateros 25-14 and 25-8 and over Chelan 25-23 and 25-16.

The Bulldogs split with Cashmere 25-23 and 25-27. The game loss to Cashmere dented a bid for a sweep in pool play, but Colfax qualified for the championship game because their tally for game wins, 7-1, topped the pool.

Line score for the title win over Zillah was 25-18, 22-25 and 15-10 in the decider.

In the first game of the title round, Olivia Mellor posted a run of scores to jump Colfax to a 9-4 lead. Zillah worked back into the action, but Mellor served out another run of six points to post a 22-12 lead, and the Bulldogs closed out the win in the first game.

Zillah cranked out a 21-10 lead in the second game, but Colfax closed to 23-19 before Zillah took the game win.

In the 15-10 win for the decider, the Bulldogs ripped a 4-1 lead and just kept going.

“We had the lead and just built it as we went along,” Doering said.

Mellor finished with 55 of 57 serves for the the five-match run. Carmen Gfeller hit 46 of 54 serves and rapped 15 aces for the campaign.

Colfax Friday will depart for Shadle Park to star in the Sheridan crossover classic which features 61 teams this year. They will play Post Falls Friday at 7:30, Jackson of Seattle at 10 a.m. Saturday and Bear Creek at 11 a.m. Next stop will be charted according to how they fare in the first three pool games.

Okanogan Tournament statistics: Ashtyn Aune - 27-31 serving with four aces, three kills, four blocks, 28 digs, 39 assists; Katelyn Scholz - 42-45 serving with five aces; 25 digs, 51 assists; Morgan Lord - 32-35 with 46 digs; Abby Miller - 30-31 with 14 kills, 41 digs; Carmen Gfeller 46-54 with 15 aces, 37 kills, nine blocks, five digs; Olivia Mellor - 55-57 with five aces, 24 kills, three blocks, 42 digs; Scout Cai 29 kills, two blocks, 10 digs; Taylor Garcia 14 kills, five blocks, two digs; Sidney Sheer - 2-3, one block, two digs; Kylie Gronning - 4-4, two digs; Piper Cai two blocks, two kills, three digs.

Statistics vs. Reardan: Gfeller - 13-14 with six aces, 11 kills, three blocks; Mellor - 15-15 with six aces, five kills, seven digs; Scholz - 11-11 with four aces, nine assists; S. Cai - two kills, one block, nine digs; Lord 12-12 with one ace, three digs; Ashtyn Aune - nine assists, one kill, four digs; Abby Miller - 6-8 with one ace, three kills, two blocks, three digs; Sidney Sheer - 7-8 with two aces, two kills, one dig; Kylie Kackman - 3-4 with one ace, one dig; Taylor Garcia - two kills, three blocks; P. Cai - one dig.