Richland Volleyball Goes Out With a Bang - By Bella Bunnage
Richland faced off against the Hanford Falcons for their last regular season game. This game had high intensity from both sides of the court. Hanford entered the game with a 6-12 record, whereas Richland approached with a bit more of a winning streak at 11-6. The previous time Richland faced off against Hanford, the game was farther away than Hanford wanted, with Richland knocking them off their feet on all three sets. Before watching the game tonight, I tried to get some insight from a player's perspective on what their thoughts were going into it. I had an opportunity to speak with senior Malia Haynes on how she approached the game. Malia stated, “I'm excited for tonight's game; we have realized our season is ending and want to push ourselves as much as possible. We didn't play our best last time we played them, so we are hoping to turn this time around!” Before touching on the game details, let's discuss how the girls approach the postseason. I spoke with Gracie Moss, senior hitter, about how she feels about going into the postseason. Gracie said, “We will have to face some pretty tough teams in the postseason, but as long as we play together and connect well on the court, we can make it far!.” Richland placed third overall in MCC, which makes them seed #5. For the first round of districts, they will face off against Lewis and Clark in Spokane.
To start the game, the Bombers came out a little slow against the Falcons. The set started back and forth with a lot of missed serves from Richland’s team. The Falcons seized their opportunities to win a set on Richland and ended the set 25-21 Hanford. I talked to some parents of the Falcons about who they think influenced the first set, in particular, “ Kennedy Taylor, our Libero, had an amazing set which helped a lot; everyone on the team played an influential role to help win the set. It also helped that Richland had five missed serves in the first set.”
In the second set, the Bombers were able to find their groove and make a comeback to win over the Falcons with a score of 9-25. Jenna Holmes had some great hits to secure the points in the second and third sets of the game. The Bombers approached the fourth set with a desire to win, and that’s precisely what they did. Gracie Moss had some spectacular serves, as well as Malia Haynes. The set was back and forth, and the Falcons continued to put up a fight on their senior night. The Richlands volleyball team had a lot of great blocks throughout the night, specifically in set three. The Bombers started out a little timid, and the Falcons didn’t hold back on them, but that didn’t deprive the Bombers of a win. This double win against Handford didn’t correspond to last season's games when they faced off… Last year, Hanford volleyball was dominant and gave Richland a run for their money, with their record being 13-8. The first time they faced off was a high-intensity match with back-and-forth winning sets until Richland finally pulled through on the last stage, winning three to two to conquer the Falcons.
The Falcons came to play after their loss and started to gain a winning streak; the second time they played Richland, they won three to one. Hanford lost some crucial players who helped them the previous year; this season has looked a lot different for the Falcons due to failing these players. Richland's roster remains strong, with some of the best players in the Mid-Columbia conference. In this match, the Richlands players that stuck out to me were Jenna Holmes, Senior Hitter, and Gracie Moss, senior hitter. Our Libero Ella Mcgee is an underlooked position and player crucial to the Bombers; Ella is old and has played for the Bombers all four years. Ella had a fantastic game and started the first set, helping the team keep the ball alive. Ella's talent persevered throughout the night to help the bombers come out with a decisive win. Ella’s sharpness and urgency came out in the last set, where the Bombers tied the win together and knocked the Falcons off their feet.
