South Bend shoots down Valley in four

Photo by Pat Myers In Monday nights contest between South Bend and Willapa Valley, outside hitter Emily Sanchez, a South Bend senior stretches for a kill shot.

"This was a very good win for us tonight," South Bend HS Head Volleyball Coach Jacki Sanchez told the Herald. "The last couple of weeks, the girls have really focused on playing more consistent. I thought we were consistent tonight from start to finish. What is nice about this win is that everyone on the team had a hand in it. We were focused on doing a good job on serve-receive against their tough servers. This allowed us to be very effective running an offense off of serve-receive.

"Defensively, we were also tough by all of our girls in the back court.," Coach Sanchez said. "Emily Sanchez and Rielly Myers did an excellent job of setting up the offense off of the teams passes.

"Leading us offensively, was Sanchez and Alison Funkhouser with 11 kills each, Paola Razo with 8 kills, and Myers and McKenzie Salas with 7 kills each," Coach Sanchez noted.

"As a team, we served quite well at 91 percent," Coach Sanchez said. "Morgan Patterson had a good night on serve-receive, Paige Johnson had a good night on defense, and Nikki Manlow did a great job serving and playing back row."

The Lady Indians finish the regular season at home on Senior Night tonight versus Rainier.

South Bend and Willapa Valley head to the District IV Volleyball Tournament for a chance to advance to the state tourney. The district tourney is scheduled for November 1, 5, and 8 at various sites. State opens November 14 at Yakima.