Camas setter Aubrey Stanton has plenty of firepower at her disposal.
To one side, there’s outside hitter Keelie LeBlanc. To her right, there’s right-side Whitney Quist. In the middle, she has Mary Pipkin and Marianna Payne.
On Thursday night, Stanton deployed all her weapons to great effect against Union, as she and fellow setter Maddy Gilchrist spread the kills all along the front row in a three-set sweep of the host Titans to wrap up at least a share of the 4A Greater St. Helens League title.
“The mental side of the game is fun for me,” said Stanton, who finished with 21 assists to go with eight kills in the 25-17, 25-19, 25-22 victory. “I like to make decisions on the court, spread things out and find one-on-one matchups.”
With wins over Skyview on Tuesday and now Union to start the second half of league play, the Papermakers (6-0 GSHL, 10-1) clinched the No. 1 seed to the bi-district tournament with one week left in the season.
“I’m proud of how far we’ve come this year,” Stanton said. “We had a lot of new players, new hitters this year, and having things mesh in the beginning was a struggle. But we’ve come together, and things have gone great since then.”
The Papermakers grabbed control of the match midway in the first set and never let the Titans (4-2 GSHL, 9-3) gain any momentum.
Union never scored more than three straight points, the last time early in the third set to take a brief 9-6 lead.
Camas libero Maddy Plaff then ran off six straight points, including a pair of aces, to give the visitors an 18-13 lead.
Union tied it twice down the stretch, but at 22-all, the Papermakers put the match away. LeBlanc ripped her match-high 12th kill down the line, served an ace to set up match point, and Pipkin won a joust at the net to seal the win.
“We had two tough matches this week, and with three matches next week, that sets the tone for us going into the postseason,” said Camas coach Michelle Allen, looking to guide the Papermakers back to state after a two-year absence. “We want to be mentally tough and take care of business.”
Gilchrist added 16 assists, and Quist had 10 kills for Camas. Lauren Gerhmann and Kirah Boynton-Brown led Union with six kills apiece.
