Battle Till the End - By Zoe Aiolupotea and Trenton Dame
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| Kenzie Nealon celebrates with her teammates after scoring in the Chiawana matchup. Photo courtesy of Megan DeGraaf (RHS Yearbook). |
The Richland Bombers were expecting a hard battle from this upcoming game against Chiawana, and this battle was fought till the very end.
The Bombers held on to their winning streak by defeating Chiawana in a nail-biting 3-2 match, but the Riverhawks came ready to compete and they most definitely did.
Cassidi Ashbeck a right side for the Richland Bombers had said “We have been working really hard at practices to prepare us for potentially the biggest game of the season” and Ashbeck’s thoughts were backed up by the strong teamwork shown in this dual of two strong teams.
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| The student section brought the intensity to match the RHS gameplay. Photo courtesy of Megan Degraaf (RHS Yearbook). |
The Bombers took the lead in the first set by a close score of 25-21. Kenzie Nealon, a left side and newly commit to Montana State Billings University, continued to work alongside her team to block as many hits that came her way while giving them right back the Riverhawks. Chiawana began to creep up on the Bombers with strong serves coming from everyone on the court adding increasing pressure on Richland to keep that lead going. But the bombers didn’t give up too easily. Sophia Thompson, a defensive specialist for Richland, came in with a few strong serves to give the Bombers the confidence they needed to secure the first win.
Chiawana used the loss from the first set to play rally back in the second. The Riverhawks serves started catching up to the Bombers, causing RHS to struggle whereas they are usually strong serve receivers. Chiawana was on a roll in the second set, due to the previous loss that set them off. They continued to add pressure on the Bombers after each serve. After finding Richland’s weak spots, Chiawana kept pushing it, giving the Riverhawks their first win in this match at 16-25.
Chiawana used the momentum from the last win to get an early lead on the Bombers. McCall Callaway, an outside hitter for the Riverhawks, knew what she had to do to keep that momentum going. She found open holes and pockets on the court while Riley Scribner, a middle blocker for the Riverhawks, applied the pressure needed with her abundant amount of strong serves. Securing the win, Scribner and her teammates continued to fight back with the Bombers in the third set. But Nealon, Ashbeck, and Ella Carrick held their ground and brought the serve game with them. Finding holes to drop aces here and there, they gave the Bombers more faith coming into the fourth set.
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| Ella Carrick gets ready to serve another point for the Bombers. Photo courtesy of Megan Degraaf (RHS Yearbook). |
Ella Carrick, an outside hitter for Richland, talked about teamwork while being down saying “ I was really nervous coming into the third and fourth set but I know as a team we all can come together and secure the win." The fourth set consisted of an intense battle where each serve, each set, and each hit mattered. The Bombers pulled all the strength that they had from the help of their cheerful student section cheering them on the whole time, screaming ”ITS BOMBER TIME, BOMBER TIME!"
And it was most definitely the right moment for the Bombers to show that crowd it was in fact “ Bomber Time.” Richland used a 5-1 relying on their skilled setter Kelli Ostboe to pull through with each set. She not only pulled through but also did not give up a single set. Both Ostboe and her team fought
Richland bringing the pride and Chiawana the drive, the fifth and final set was full of anticipation. Which team would be driving home with their first loss of the season was the mindset of the crowd. It all came down to what team wanted the win the most.
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| Kelli Ostboe sets her team up for a kill, one of 22 for the match. Photo courtesy of Megan DeGraaf (RHS Yearbook). |
Richland had a strong start, Ostboe came in with a stealthy amount of assists to add a little fire under the Bombers belts but that wasn’t enough to keep the Riverhawks down for too long, a few kills came in from Callaway and Scribner on the left and right side, moving Chiawana into the lead for a majority of the set. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, waiting to know which direction this game was going to end. But Richland showed perseverance to win with a 14-9 comeback. They progressed slowly, but, sure enough, they got the ball back. Bombers had the last little bit of faith to go home with a win. It all came down to Nealon and her teammates, showing how badly they wanted to win this. It was 14-14 and Richland’s serve. Nealon gave the Riverhawks a powerful serve to apply pressure on them to set Carrick up for a strong kill to the back side of the court, leaving the score 15-14.
The crowd went silent as Nealon took her serving approach to end this battle of MCC titans. She served the ball to the far right corner creating an ace to give the Bombers their third win of the season, sending Chiawana home with their first loss 16-14.
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| RHS student section celebrating between sets. Photo courtesy of Megan DeGraaf (RHS Yearbook.) |
Overall, this was a game you didn't want to miss. seniors Ella Carrick and Kenzie Nealon tied for their Team High Skills racking up 12 kills each with the support of 22 assists by Kelli Ostboe.
Richland will now look forward to another test against a tough Kamiakin team (9/15). But the Braves will have their hands full with this team. Richland showed true teamwork and perseverance throughout the game to secure, yet again, a glorious victory for the Richland Bombers.
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| The Richland Volleyball team gets their assignments from Coach Valarie Anderson. Photo courtesy of Megan Degraaf (RHS Yearbook). |
