Top Teams Battle - By Kylee Fox and Seth Shook

The Richland Bombers suffered their first loss of the season against a tough Kamiakin Braves team. The Braves are coming off their first loss of the season against Chiawana Riverhawks, who the Lady Bombers beat in a tough five-set game earlier this week. The Braves were looking to get a big win at home. 

Kamiakin and Richland are known for the biggest rivalry in the whole Mid-Columbia Conference (MCC) across all sports: football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and volleyball always being the biggest games each year against each other and always having a packed house to watch the top two schools in the league get after it. Last year, the Bombers split their matchups with Kamiakin, both games being highly competitive and intense. The Bombers were curious how Kamiakin´s offense would be after losing their top hitter Taryn Vrieling, who is currently playing at the University of Idaho. 

Richland’s senior captain Kenzie Nealon knew it was going to be a battle from the start, “ They definitely have a vocal student section and they want to win so we know what to expect there…Kamiakin is also coming off of a loss against Chiawana, who Richland just beat, so they really want this game.” From the first serve, the whole gym anticipated a competitive and back-and-forth game. 

Richland comes together between sets.

The Bombers struggled out of the opening serve, forcing them to call a timeout soon after the game started at 4-10, then having to call another timeout at 8-19. The girls diving for every ball, hoping to make a quick comeback as they did against Chiawana. But the Bombers couldn’t stop Junior middle hitter Jule Whitley from spiking the ball multiple times and having big points down the line. The Bombers lost the first set to the Braves who were looking to get back on track after their loss 13-25. 

The Bombers were frustrated after losing the first set, but senior Kenzie Nealon and Hannah Williamson came out hard which put the bombers up by five with the momentum in their hands. But the tough Kamiakin Braves wouldn’t go away down by five, Junior Rylie Dolven gets a big block and the Kamiakin student section goes wild. Then, in the next play, the Bombers are ready to spike the ball but Junior Jule Whitley is in the way, with another block that would set off a crazy ‘Run Kano’ home crowd.

The momentum would go back and forth all night. However, both teams would have lots of miscommunication, which also set up lots of creative chants from both student sections during a timeout tied at 24-24 at the end of the second set. Both teams with very strong front-row hitters, but it was the Braves who would finish the set off with a great set from junior Rylie Dolven to Peyton Arland which puts the braves ahead and ultimately ended this nail-biting set with the bombers falling short again in the second set 24-26.

Even on the road, the Bombers bring the back up for their teams.

 

The Bombers who were ready to get back into this game started the third set coming out with another hot start with great communication all around the court, going up 6-2 on the Braves. This would lead the Braves to call a timeout to regroup their team. Ultimately it was a smart decision by the coach because the Braves would clap back with their own spew of points, bringing the game back into arms reach. This would continue through the whole third set, the Lady Bombers would take a 2-3 point lead but some miscommunication would have the Bombers back tied up with the Braves again. Late in the third set, the Bombers make a comeback and make it tied at 25-25. Unfortunately, Whitley and the Braves take home the victory, with one of the biggest upsets of the week at 28-26. 

The Bombers are now ranked number two in the MCC with a record of 3-1, hoping to regain the number one spot next Thursday as they face Kennewick at home.