GSL volleyball: Central Valley holds off G-Prep, improves to 6-0

Central Valley’s volleyball team features many hitters capable of throwing multiple looks at opponents.

For Thursday’s fifth game against Gonzaga Prep, CV coach Amanda Bailey stressed a return to basics for her talented hitters.

“We came out in that last game and just tried to be simple,” Bailey said. “Our hitters have a lot of different shots and can hit the ball in a lot of different places. We just went out and told them, ‘Just swing. Don’t make it too complicated.’ ”

The Bears took Bailey’s advice, took away G-Prep’s momentum, and capped a 25-14, 25-16, 20-25, 23-25, 15-9 Greater Spokane League victory at CV.

The win left the Bears, 20-1-1 overall and ranked No. 10 among 4A teams in the state coaches’ poll, tied with University for first place in the league at 6-0. G-Prep (4-2) is tied for third place with Mead and Lewis and Clark.

CV will meet U-Hi on Oct. 28 to cap the league season.

The Bears looked unbeatable in the first two games.

Kazlyn Roullier had three of her match-high 18 kills during the first eight points of the opening game and Sasha Montgomery added three quick kills for a 15-8 advantage.

The Bears broke away in the second game, boosted by setter Jade Rockwood’s kill and tip and several Bullpups errors during a 6-0 streak late in the game.

G-Prep coach Jill Benson changed her strategy for the third game, calling on 6-foot-2 sophomore Maddie West to confound CV’s hitters.

“I think they came out and moved their blockers a little bit in those other games and just kind of took us off-guard,” Bailey said. “It took us a while to get back in rhythm.”

Rachael Meyer, who tied Sophie West with a team-high 10 kills, had a kill and back-to-back aces in the third game to help G-Prep take control with a 5-0 run.

Maria Adams and Sophie West had kills to help the Bullpups stop a late Bears charge in the fourth game.

The momentum appeared to be with G-Prep, but CV broke from a 4-all fifth-game tie with a 3-0 run assisted by Meghan Rockwood’s ace.

“We actually missed three serves in the fifth game and you’re not going to win like that,” Benson said. “You’re shooting yourself in the foot. But we still fought and we did some good stuff and we’ll see them again.”

“It’s an emotional roller-coaster that we like to ride,” said Jade Rockwood, who had back-to-back kills for a 9-5 edge in the fifth game. “We like the intensity.”

“We figured it out and we built it back up,” Montgomery said. “We’re not a team that likes to lose, so all of us just dug deep and together we had enough confidence to build up what we needed to do.”

Also in the league, Sydney Schlect had 12 kills as visiting U-Hi held off LC 25-15, 25-18, 19-25, 16-25, 15-9. Joslyn Bopray had 11 kills and eight blocks for the Tigers. … Hannah Absalonson totaled four aces, 10 digs and 10 assists while helping Mead (4-2) to a 3-0 win at Ferris (1-5). … Arianna Newcomb recorded 15 kills and Karly Cantu totaled 28 assists as host Mt. Spokane (3-3) swept North Central. Adriana Sosa had a game-high 27 digs for the Indians (0-6).