Ridgefield takes tough road to win state volleyball title

LACEY – As Delaney Nicoll cradled the Class 2A state volleyball championship trophy, she marveled at the 3-foot tall prize.

“It’s heavy,” she said.

No problem. Ridgefield showed plenty of strength in winning the program’s fifth state title on Saturday at Saint Martin’s University. When the team collectively held the trophy aloft, it seemed light as a feather.

Not that anything about earning Ridgefield’s first state title since 1990 was easy.

The Spudders were four points away from being swept in the morning’s semifinals against Columbia River, the only team to have beaten Ridgefield this year.

Then in the title match against Lynden, Ridgefield won a gritty third set 31-29 before prevailing in four against the state’s runner up now for two straight years.

Saturday’s tense triumphs were typical for Ridgefield’s tournament, which started with a five-set win Friday over one-loss Pullman.

“Our way to the top was not as easy as other people’s,” Nicoll said. “We had to fight for every single game.”

Nicoll had 29 kills in the title match. An all-tournament selection last year when Ridgefield placed third, she finished with 103 kills in four matches at this year’s state tournament.

“This was the year,” Nicoll said. “Going in we knew we had a chance, but we had to earn it.”

And boy did Ridgefield earn it in the semifinals against Columbia River.

Down 21-15 in the third set, Ridgefield was just four lost points from seeing its hopes of a state volleyball championship dashed.

On the surface, a victory looked unlikely.

But the surface doesn’t show what’s in Ridgefield’s minds and hearts.

“We have physically great players, but it all comes down to your mindset and how bad you want it,” Ridgefield senior Kameryn Reynolds said. “We wanted this win so bad.”

Ridgefield rallied to win the third set 25-23. The Spudders also won the fourth 25-21, overcoming a 10-5 deficit.

That forced a fifth-set tiebreaker for the third time in four meetings this season between the 2A Greater St. Helens League rivals.

But by then, Ridgefield was rolling. The Spudders won the fifth set 15-4 to advance to the title match.

Columbia River finished third in the 2A Greater St. Helens League. Taking Ridgefield to five sets in the regular-season finale gave the Chieftains the confidence to deal the Spudders their only loss this season in the district semifinals.

“They’re a great team and it’s always a privilege to play them,” Reynolds said of River. “But I think when we played them at districts, they wanted it so bad. This time, we were like ‘this isn’t about us or a trophy. It’s about playing for each other and playing for our hometown.’”

Columbia River (14-7) placed fourth, falling to Ellensburg (18-2) in the third-place match in four sets.

River has just three seniors, who leave the program in good hands. It’s a team that caught fire in the postseason, transforming itself from a third-place GSHL squad to a top-four statewide team.

“My heart is so full because I’m so proud of all the girls I’ve been able to play with,” senior setter Lexi Williams said. “I have so much faith that they’re going to be super successful, if not more successful next year. Being able to know that I’ve had influence with that is really comforting.”

Woodland made sure the 2A GSHL took home three of eight trophies at the state tournament. The Beavers placed sixth, the program’s 12^th top-eight finish at the state tournament.

Woodland (16-5) fell to Burlington-Edison (15-5) in four sets in the fifth-place match. But the Beavers weren’t hanging their heads.

“We definitely wanted to place at state,” said senior Elyse Booker, the program’s all-time leader in digs. “We obviously wanted to go to the championship, but I think we’re all really proud of ourselves for getting ourselves here and working really hard.”

Woodland clinched a trophy by beating Prosser (15-6) in four sets in the fifth-place semifinals, 25-21, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23.

Championship

RIDGEFIELD 3, LYNDEN 1

27-25, 15-25, 31-29, 25-16

Semifinals

RIDGEFIELD 3, COLUMBIA RIVER 2

22-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-4

Ridgefield

Highlights – Delaney Nicoll 25 kills, 3 blocks, 22 digs; Emilea Stepaniuk 1 ace, 20 digs; Kameryn Reynolds 7 kills, 3 blocks, 2 digs; Kohana Fukuchi 22 assists; Morgan Harter 3 ace; Mackenzie Gilchrist 4 kills, 28 assists, 7 digs; Emily Borgstedt 5 kills, 4 blocks, 1 dig.

Columbia River

Highlights – Isabella Ness 9 kills, 3 blocks, 2 digs; Rylie Reeves 3 aces, 12 kills, 21 digs; Maddie Sheron 10 kills, 2 blocks, 4 digs; Makenah Jackson 5 kills, 3 blocks, 1 dig; Lexi Williams 2 kills, 40 assists, 12 digs, Alicia Wallingford 3 aces, 12 kills, 1 block, 5 digs; Emma Adams 2 aces, 3 assists, 24 digs.

Third place

ELLENSBURG 3, COLUMBIA RIVER 1

25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 27-25

Columbia River

Highlights – Isabella Ness 7 kills, 3 blocks, 1 dig; Rylie Reeves 11 kills, 1 assist, 1 block, 18 digs; Jayden Foster 10 kills, 8 digs; Alicia Wallingford 9 kills, 4 blocks; Emma Adams 2 assists, 25 digs; Lexi Williams 3 kills, 38 assists, 14 digs; Makenah Jackson 5 kills, 4 blocks.

Fifth place

BURLINGTON-EDISON 3, WOODLAND 0

25-23, 25-19, 25-20

Woodland

Highlights – Elyse Booker 1 ace, 2 kills, 1 assist, 18 digs; Taylor Foster 2 aces, 16 kills, 1 block, 4 digs; Olivia Andersen 3 aces, 1 kill, 10 digs; Emma Swett 1 ace, 7 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs.

Fifth place semifinal

WOODLAND 3, PROSSER 1

25-21, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23

Woodland

Highlights – Olivia Andersen 2 aces, 8 kills, 10 digs; Emma Swett 1 ace, 19 kills, 2 blocks 17 digs; Nicole Guthrie 1 ace, 7 kills, 43 assists, 2 blocks, 7 digs; Taylor Foster 2 aces, 19 kills, 3 blocks, 18 digs; Payten Foster 21 digs.