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Late in the Edmonds-Woodway vs. Everett District 1 high school volleyball tourney match on Thursday, a loud crack could be heard throughout the gymnasium at Edmonds-Woodway High School. It was the sound of the plastic clipboard that had been held by E-W Coach Bart Foley breaking when he tossed it to the court floor.
The crash of that clipboard was indicative of the night his Warriors were having as his team was convincingly swept 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17) by the visiting Seagulls in a District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament match.
Everett kept the Warriors on their heels from the start Tuesday, jumping out to a 17-9 lead in the first set then holding on for the 25-21 first set win.
E-W stayed closer in the second set, even taking an 18-16 lead after two straight points earned by senior Indira Carey-Boxley, first with a kill and then an ace on the subsequent serve. But the Warriors struggled with their serves for the remainder of the set, putting three into the net during one stretch and falling 25-23 on a Lauren Desimone final-point kill.
In the third and final set, Everett — the No. 6 seed in the District 1 tournament — jumped out to an early 8-4 advantage, built it up to 19-12 and then coasted to a 25-17, with the final point coming on an Ava Gonzalez kill.
While Foley commended the entire Seagull roster for their play on Tuesday, he specifically noted Gonzalez, a 6-foot junior, for her contribution in the Everett victory.
“They just happen to have, for my money, the best kid that I’ve seen in District 1 for 3A,” Foley said. “Ava is a remarkable talent; she played great tonight.”
Gonzalez led all players on Tuesday with 19 kills, 14 digs and six aces.
Despite his squad holding small leads early in every set and making the second set especially competitive — the score was tied 23-23 before the Seagulls took the set 25-23 — Foley acknowledged that his No. 3-seeded Warriors were overshadowed in the tourney match.
“I think they outplayed us even in the parts of the game that we played decently in,” Foley said. “They attacked the ball better than we did. I think they probably passed the ball in serve/receive better than we did — that’s one of our calling cards … I know they outserved us.”
“We were out of system the entire night,” Foley continued. “And credit to them; they kept the pressure on us and we ended up yielding a lot of free balls.”
With hopes of slowing down Everett’s potent offense, Foley was counting on his squad attacking throughout the night; but what he saw instead was a Warrior team that was off balance and sending too many balls softly and without purpose over the net.
“We have, kind of, a no-free-ball policy,” Foley explained, “And we gave more free balls than we have in any match this season. (And) good teams make you pay; and they made us pay … with free balls, good teams will cram it down your throat.”
Foley also made note of his team’s performance at going after digs. “I didn’t like our effort on defense,” he said. “We watched a lot of balls land without bodies flying after it.”
With the loss, E-W drops to the consolation bracket of the District 1 tourney finishing up this week. But a berth to next week’s WIAA 3A State Volleyball Tournament is still within reach for the Warriors, who will need to win two straight loser-out district tourney contests beginning on Thursday to punch their ticket to Yakima.
“We don’t have much time to lick our chops because we’re going to be playing at 5 p.m. on Thursday,” Foley conceded.
Edmonds-Woodway will next face No. 10 seed Mount Vernon in a district tournament loser-out contest Thursday at Stanwood High School. If the Warriors survive that test, they will need to beat either No. 1 seed Stanwood or No. 4 seed Monroe in a winner-to-state, loser-out match to be held Saturday at 10 a.m., also at Stanwood High School.
“I still think we are one of six teams that can get one of the four (state tournament) allocations,” Foley concluded. “But if we play like that (in the loss to Everett), our season will end on Thursday, that’s for sure.”
To view the entire District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament bracket, click www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4841.
Prep Volleyball: Everett at Edmonds-Woodway, Nov. 11 (District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal match)
Everett 3 – Edmonds-Woodway 0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17)
Edmonds-Woodway top individual performances:
– Indira Carey-Boxley, 14 kills
– Addy Pontak, 15 digs
Everett top individual performances:
– Ava Gonzalez, 19 kills
– Ava Gonzales, 14 digs
– Ava Urbanozo, 38 assists
Records: Edmonds-Woodway 9-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 12-6 overall; Everett 5-5 in 2A/3A Wesco League North Conference, 12-6 overall
Edmonds-Woodway next match: versus Mount Vernon; Thursday, Nov. 13; 5 p.m. at Stanwood High School (District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament loser-out match)
Everett next match: versus Ferndale; Thursday, Nov. 13; 7 p.m. at Stanwood High School (District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament semifinal match)
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