The Quilcene girls’ volleyball team blanked Auburn Adventist in its second game of the season Sept. 11, winning all three games, with scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-13.

Between the two senior captains (and outside hitters), Katie Love served 14/15 with 1 ace, 10 kills and 3 digs, while Emily Hitt served 11/12 with 3 aces, 11 kills, 1 dig, 5 assists and 2 blocks, said Quilcene coach Joni Crowell.

Fellow senior and defensive specialist Sydney Brown served 1/2 with 1 dig, while junior right-side hitter Pearl Munn served 12/13 with 4 aces, 3 kills, 4 digs and 1 block.

Among the sophomores, outside hitter Abbygael Weller served 5/5 with 9 kills, 8 digs and 1 block, while setter Alannah Carron served 13/14 with 1 ace, 2 digs and 26 assists, and right-side hitter Madison Coffey served 6/6 with 1 ace, 2 kills, 3 digs and 1 block.

“The Lady Rangers had a strong offense against the Auburn Adventist Falcons, with a total of 35 team kills over the three sets,” Crowell said. “Alannah put in a solid performance setting up her hitters, and Emily dominated from the middle of the court.”

Crowell credited Love and Weller with “amazing kills from the outside,” and praised the Lady Rangers as a whole for improving their game defensively since their Sept. 8 game against Neah Bay, which they beat by “increasing cover and communicating better.”

The Lady Rangers’ match at Tacoma Baptist on Thursday, Sept. 14, culminated in a Quilcene win in four sets, with scores of 25-21, 25-14, 25-13 and 25-18.

Between the two senior captains, outside hitter Love served 18/21 with 2 aces, 10 kills and 6 digs, while middle blocker Hitt served 14/14 with 2 aces, 19 kills, 2 digs and 2 assists.

Junior right-side hitter Munn served 8/10 with 2 digs and 3 blocks.

Among the sophomores, outside hitter Weller served 12/12 with 1 ace, 9 kills and 10 digs, while right-side hitter Coffey served 5/6 with 5 kills, 5 digs and 1 block, and setter Carron served 15/19 with 3 aces, 1 kill, 2 digs and 22 assists.

Crowell acknowledged that the Lady Rangers “started off slow” in the first game, but she sees that initial deficit as “an excellent opportunity to see if they are a ‘fight back’ team.”

The Quilcene players proved Crowell’s faith in them well placed in the second game, as she credited them with “really start[ing] to come together as a team” and improve their communication skills, as well as successfully reading the other team.

“I saw this tenacity repeated at the Sundome Tournament against the strong Napavine Tigers, where the Lady Rangers fought for every point the entire game,” Crowell said. “Emily, Katie and Abbygael were strong at the net, with Alannah setting all her options.”

At the Sundome Tournament on Friday, Sept. 15, the Lady Rangers won all six pool play matches, scoring more than 60 points, with scores of 28-26 and 25-9 against Onalaska, 25-11 and 25-15 against Sunnyside Christian, and 25-15 and 25-17 against Montesano.

Crowell reported that Quilcene entered the quarterfinals in the no. 1 seeds pool in the fourth seed, with Napavine, Granger and Oakesdale ahead of it.

The Lady Rangers’ first game was against the Kiona-Benton Bears. After losing 17-25 to the Bears, Quilcene beat Kiona-Benton by scores of 25-9 and 15-6.

This put the Lady Rangers into the semifinals against the no. 1 seed, the Napavine Tigers, who beat Quilcene by two scores of 25-17.

“Overall, the serve receive at the tournament was excellent, and kept us in the system for a majority of the games,” Crowell said. “We’re going to spend the next several practices refining our coverage systems, as the Tigers revealed a few holes in our defense with their powerful offense.”

The Quilcene Lady Rangers placed fourth at the Sundome Tournament, out of 32 teams from 1B, 2B and 1A schools across the state.