Fourth-place at State VB: Lady Seagulls bring home hardware

Photo by Jennifer Swogger - Raymond HS brought home a fourth-place trophy at the 2021 2B State Volleyball tourney Friday at the Yakima SunDome. In front from left are Cadence Swogger (jr), Alia Enlow (jr), Kyndal Koski (so), Grace Busenius (sr), Baylee Pr

Raymond HS completed a wonderfully successful season by finishing fourth at the 2021 2B State Volleyball at the Yakima SunDome Friday afternoon under head coach Bob Swogger.

The Lady Seagulls lost a heartbreaking five-game match versus eventual runner up Walla Walla Academy Friday morning, and then dropped a match in three games against Manson for third place.

The fourth-place trophy is only the third time Raymond HS has placed at the state tournament. According to Raymond HS Athletic Director Mike Tully, "The only other times that Raymond has placed in volleyball are 1988, fourth, and 1989, third."

This season, Raymond won the Pacific 2B League championship and finished second at the District 4 Volleyball Tournament at Adna the week before. Raymond finished the season with an overall record of 18-4.

The Lady Seagulls were an exciting blend of solid experience and very talented underclassmen. Raymond played the game with a lot of teamwork and spirited energy, enthusiasm and all-around complete play both offensively and defensively.

The Lady Seagulls were led by three-sport student-athlete Kyra Gardner, a senior, who also excels in basketball and track and field. In only her first year of high school volleyball, Gardner was voted the Pacific League Most Valuable Player by the league's coaches. Last week, Gardner signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Washington State University on a full ride basketball scholarship, according to Tully.

Manson 3, Raymond 0

In the third and fourth-place trophy match versus Manson, Raymond lost in three games, 25-17, 25-20, 25-12, Friday afternoon. Kyra Gardner was tops for RHS in the kill department with 13. Sidney Swogger led the Lady Seagulls in assists with 17 and Kyndal Koski was solid on defense with 18 digs.

"In the Manson game, we had basically run out of gas and were tired from our semifinal," Coach Swogger told the Herald. "Manson had a much quicker loss in their semifinal and appeared to be the fresher team."

Karsyn Freeman scored 7 kills and Caton Swogger tallied 2 aces, 1 block and 1 kill.

Raymond finished the season with an overall record of 18-4.

WWVA 3, RHS 2

Walla Walla Valley Academy handed the Lady Seagulls a devastating 5-game defeat in the semifinal match Friday morning, 25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19 and 15-7.

Gardner was enormous on offense and defense with 35 kills and 25 digs. The talented senior also fired in 2 service aces. Sidney Swogger turned in another monster game while handing out 32 assists, collecting 17 digs,and scoring 7 points (6 kills, 1 ace).

"We lost a heartbreaker to Walla Walla Valley Academy," Coach Swogger told the Herald. "I could not be any more proud of this team. They did an absolutely amazing job and showed a ton of heart, character and determination. The type of young women they are should be more celebrated than their athletic achievements. I am proud of them and see them all as bright spots in our community that will develop into tomorrow's leaders."

Freeman scooped up 24 digs and scored 10 points with kills and 2 more with aces. Senior Izzy Silvernail added 21 assists and 15 digs and "was one of our more consistent servers," according to Coach Swogger.

Koski had 33 digs and 1 ace and Caton Swogger scored 6 points with 3 kills and 3 aces, dug up 7 digs and blocked 2 shots. Grace Busenius had 5 kills and Alia Enlow was good for 3 blocks and a kill.

"Our bench players were also a huge part of our success from buying into their roles, working hard in practice everyday, and providing moral support during all our games this year," Coach Swogger added. "We threw everything we had into this game and came up a little short. I couldn't be more proud of these young ladies."

Lady Gulls 3, L-R/S 1

Seventh-seeded Raymond opened the tourney with a 3-1 victory over #10 Lind-Ritzville/Sprague (25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23) Thursday morning.

"So, today has been beyond my expectations," Coach Swogger told the Herald. "We won our first round game against Lind-Ritzville/Sprague and then won the quarterfinal game against Colfax."

Gardner led the offense with 20 kills and 5 aces and Sidney Swogger (3 kills, 2 aces) and Izzy Silvernail both gave out 17 assists. Freeman put down 9 kills. "

Izzy Silvernail also had a good game for us," Coach Swogger said. "We did a good job in all aspects of the game but struggled with serving errors."

Caton Swogger and Grace Busenius scored 4 kills apiece.

RHS 3, Colfax 1

The Lady Gulls won their second match 3-1 over top-ranked (RPI) second seeded Colfax (23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-23) Thursday afternoon. Gardner turned in an enormous match with 31 kills, 15 digs, 3 aces and 2 blocks. Sidney Swogger was her usual very sound self with 20 assists, 15 digs and a couple of kills. Freeman was also a major force with 15 kills and 23 digs. Silvernail set up her teammates with 24 assists and "had great (match) serving," according to Coach Swogger.

"With Colfax we were able to clean up our serving errors and had a good game all around from everyone," Coach Swogger offered.

Turning in a superb match defensively was Koski with 30 digs and Coach Swogger said, she "served well for us."

Alia Enlow put up 6 blocked six shots and scored 3 kills, Busenius added 6 kills and Caton Swogger was good for 4 blocks and a kill.

Raymond's varsity roster this season included: Lisa Finne (jr), Grace Busenius (sr), Kyndal Koski (so), Alia Enlow (jr), Cadence Swogger (jr), Sidney Swogger (sr), Caton Swogger (jr), Baylee Price (jr), Karsyn Freeman (fr), Jolie Dunn (jr), Kyra Gardner (sr), and Izzy Silvernail (sr).

Tournament Scores

The eight first round matches on Thursday included: #6 Walla Walla Valley Academy 3, #11 Adna 0; #3 Kalama 3, #14 Warden 0; #7 Raymond 3, #10 Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 1; #2 Colfax 3, #15 Wahkiakum 0; #5 Manson 3, #12 Tri-Cities Prep 0; #4 Goldendale 3, #13 Liberty (Spangle) 1; # 9 Okanogan 3, #8 Toutle Lake 1; #1 La Conner 3, #16 Rainier 0.

The other seven second round matches and elimination matches on Thursday were Walla Walla Valley Academy 3, Kalama 2; Raymond 3, Colfax 1; Manson 3, Goldendale 2; La Conner 3, Okanogan 0; Adna 3, Warden 2 (loser out); Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 3, Wahkiakum 1 (loser-out); Liberty (Spangle) 3, Tri-Cities Prep 1 (loser out); Toutle Lake 3, Rainier 0 (loser out).

Semifinals matches on Friday included Walla Walla Academy 3, Raymond 2; La Conner 3, Manson 0. Loser out matches on Friday included Adna 3, Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 1; Liberty (Spangle) 3, Toutle Lake 2; Colfax 3, Kalama 1; Goldendale 3, Okanogan 0.

La Conner won the state championship over Walla Walla Valley Academy 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-12). Colfax defeated Goldendale 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-20) for fifth place and Liberty (Spangle) took home the seventh-place trophy over Adna 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22).