Wildcats volleyball falls to Pirates, Eagles

COLTON - Although the Colton Wildcats have yet to win a match, coach Nick Bates said the team is playing with excitement and determination, improving greatly over the past month.

Colton fell to the Pomeroy Pirates, 3-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Set scores were 25-18, 25-8, 25-18. The Wildcats trailed Pomeroy from the beginning of the sets.

"I am proud of how they fought all the way to the end of every set," Bates said. "It would have been easy for them to call it a day but they showed me exactly who I thought they were - a strong minded, determined team with nothing but upside potential to look forward to."

Colton senior Holly Heitstuman led the team with three aces, junior Kiya Soza had five assists and freshman Lola Walsborn had two blocks. Sophomore Mere Bell and freshman Ada Kerr each led with six digs and junior Leah Musson had four kills.

"Aside from our two senior captains (Heitstuman and Clair Moehrle) our team is very green in volleyball, so to watch them perform with so much excitement and determination to get better is encouraging."

The Wildcats went on to play a home match against the St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse (SJEL) Eagles on Thursday, Sept. 19. Colton lost to the Eagles in three sets, 25-13, 25-21, 25-18.

In the first set, the Eagles took a quick 2-0 lead, but Colton swiftly responded, tying the set, 2-2. A kill by Bell tied the set again at 8-8.

From there, the Eagles began to pull away with the score and eventually won the first set.

In set two, SJEL gained a large early lead, bringing the score to 11-2. The Wildcats would not give up and scored the next seven points in a row, closing the gap to 11-9, with an ace registered by Bell.

The Eagles regrouped and scored the next five points, but Colton's determination showed through, scoring the next eight points and taking a 17-16 lead. Soza had two aces and Moehrle had a block kill during the run.

The set would be tied again at 21-21 before the Eagles scored the next four, taking set two, 25-21.

"I am proud of how we played, it's fun to see the team's improvement over the course of the month that we have been practicing together," Bates said. "I see situations where we improve each match and that is fun to be a part of with Colton."

SJEL scored the first four points of set three, and while Colton kept the score close for much of the early goings of the match, the Wildcats couldn't fully recover. The Eagles took set three, and the match, 3-0.

Leading the Wildcats in aces were Bell and Soza with four each. Soza led in assists with six, and Moehrle led in blocks (3), digs (7) and kills (4).

"I see us getting more comfortable with each other around the court and while we are getting better at communicating, being more vocal is something that we will work on with so many young players," Bates said.

For the Eagles, Catalina Torres led her team with seven aces, Sophie Anderson registered 28 assists and Catalina Torre had 12 digs. Avery Fleming led SJEL with eight kills and one block in the match.

The Wildcats went on to play a home match against Asotin on Monday, Sept. 23. Asotin defeated Colton, 3-1. Set scores were 25-12, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20.

Moehrle led the Wildcats with four aces and six kills with Soza notching 13 assists. Bell had 11 digs and one block in the match.

Colton then played an away match against the Garfield-Palouse Vikings on Tuesday, Sept. 24, after press time. The Wildcats return home at 6 p.m. today, Thursday, Sept. 26 against Waitsburg.