Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Central Valley gets last laugh in volleyball win over Mead

Central Valley was in absolute control of its Greater Spokane League volleyball opener at Mead on Tuesday.

That is, until Mead was in absolute control.

In the end, CV had the final kick in the back-and-forth match, holding off the Panthers 25-14, 21-25, 12-25, 25-15, 15-12 in a match between teams that advanced to the State 4A tournament last year and will battle to do so again.

CV improved to 10-0-1 overall, with a tie in match play at the 32-team SunDome tournament that they won.

Both second-year GSL coaches expected the match to have excitement and counterpunching.

“Volleyball’s a momentum game,” CV’s Amanda Bailey said. “You give it away, you take it sometime. That was definitely evident here tonight.”

“We were nervous, with all the butterflies of being in front of our home crowd, and it showed with our chaos in the first game,” Mead’s Elaina Renius said. “Then we settled down and played our game in the second and third. Then I just think we need some experience in those situations on how to finish games.”

CV’s all-league returners led the way in the toughest times.

“I told the girls that we’re a team and we’ll finish it together,” said CV senior outside hitter/middle hitter Kazlyn Roullier, who had 19 kills, nine digs and two aces. “Win or lose, it will be as a team. I think one of the things we do best to turn it around is our energy. We just got excited for the points we did get …”

“I know with our team we seem to have moments of highs and lows,” said CV junior MH Keann White, who had nine kills, five blocks and two aces. “I think one thing we do a good job at is pulling ourselves out of those lows.”

Both Bears leaders said that CV had never defeated Mead in GSL play, although the Bears won a nonleaguer between the two last season. GSL veterans couldn’t completely verify the assertion, but either way, it’s been a long time since CV has knocked off Mead in league.

The Bears stormed to a 6-0 first-game lead and had another 6-0 run after the Panthers settled down to cut CV’s lead to 13-10. Mead mistakes handed CV multiple points.

“Maybe it was the home court and the old saying, ‘Are you afraid to succeed?’ ” Renius said.CV led the second game 8-6 before the Panthers ran off eight consecutive points. The momentum carried over to the third game, as Mead dashed ahead 9-1 and later used an 8-0 run for a 19-5 lead.

The fourth game was tied at 12 before the Bears broke away. CV quickly jumped to a 7-2 lead in the deciding game and served for the match at 14-8 before the Panthers scored four straight points.

“We just told the girls, it’s a brand-new game (in the fourth),” Bailey said. “Anything can happen and we just have to start from 0-0.”

In other GSL openers, Maria Adams had 11 kills, eight digs and three aces and Tess Beschel added 24 assists and four aces as Gonzaga Prep posted a 3-0 sweep over visiting Shadle Park. … Alex Douglas had six assists and seven aces as University swept visiting Rogers 3-0. … Arianna Newcomb had 10 kills and 13 digs to lead Mt. Spokane to a 3-1 win at Ferris. … Sydney Underwood had 12 kills and 10 digs to lead Lewis and Clark to a 3-1 win at North Central.