High School Volleyball: R.A. Long evicts Mark Morris in civil sweep
Sister Sister – RAL sibling duos deliver against Monarchs in Round II of Civil War
THE LUMBERDOME — R.A. Long was able to give the home crowd what it wanted Thursday, while sending the other side of town home disappointed, after a Civil War sweep at the Lumberdome. The Lumberjills were tested early and often, but made all the right adjustments on the way to victory with set scores of 25-22, 27-25 and 25-18.
The Lumberjlls fell behind quickly in the first set, and wound up tied a dozen times in the second set alone as the frame went deep into extra points. But after dropping the Monarchs in five sets earlier this season, the hosts never stopped believing that the next good news was right around the corner.
“At no point in the set was I worried about losing because we play very composed and I knew that we would be able to get back.” Missed four served and trailed 12-8. “We are pretty good at making changes mid-match. (Assistant coaches) Hillary (Simon-Felix) and Maya (Linn) have a good pulse on what we need to adjust.”
No adjustment was more consequential for R.A. Long in the first set than rotating freshman Bridget Woodruff into the mix at the net. The hosts trailed 12-8 (behind four service errors) and Mark Morris was bristling with confidence in front of a mostly packed house. But one Woodruff joined her sister, senior Jillian Woodruff, side-by-side at the net the worm quickly began to turn.
“What a great match for (Bridget) with some great swings and just being a force at the net,” Nailon said. “Bridget has been moved from setter to outside to middle and her role next year will probably change again. What I appreciate about her is her willingness to do it. There’s no hesitation.”
Bridget Woodruff finished with eight kills and three blocks. And each time she put the ball on the floor on the Monarchs’ side her teammate were there to show her how to celebrate.
“It’s kind of weird playing with her. I’ve always been watching her play so playing with her is a new experience,” Jillian Woodruff said of her sister. “She’s bringing a lot of energy. She’s really into it. She’s not shying away from the ball. She’s ready to hit. She’s blocking. And she’s just ready to be on varsity as a freshman and stepping into that role.”
Meanwhile Jillian Woodruff matched her sister by posting three blocks to go with a team-high 26 assists, two kills, two aces, and five digs.
“I love the sister to sister connection. I think Jill gets more excited than Bridgette when she does well,” Nailon said.
As usual, Ella Eib led the R.A. Long attack. The senior jumps out of her shoes and swings well above her weight class night in and night out. Agains the Monarchs she finished with a team-high 14 kills (.722 efficiency) and five blocks.
“Ella is our big hitter,” Jillian Woodruff said. “She really stepped it u p tonight and had some big kills that were good for our momentum.”
But numerous Lumberjills also found their moments to step up and deliver on the rivalry stage, including twins Becca and Sam Montgomery. Becca posted six blocks and three kills, while Sam notched four kills and eight digs.
“We are so lucky to have what we do,” Nailon noted. “With our outside hitters we struggled with consistency, but they were able to compensate in other ways if they were struggling on offense.”
Erica Espinoza is one of those Lumberjills who found other ways to contribute, tallying eight digs and several huge points from the service stripe.
“Rowan played great defense tonight,” Jillian Woodruff added. “She was getting a lot of balls up and that helped us out.”
Meanwhile, Mark Morris was just a couple of breaks away from having an entirely different experience. After watching their early lead in the first set evaporate, the Monarchs came out and held the upper hand for most of a marathon second set. That frame wound up tied a dozen times, until the hosts prevailed in extra points.
“I think as an athlete that can be a little bit more detrimental, when you’re right there and twice you can’t quite finish it. Especially going into extra points,” Mark Morris head coach Carmen Hewitt said. “We just came out too flat in the third and we were just a little too rattled.”
Makenzie Henthorn and Alexa Harrison held down the pins for the Monarchs in traditional style. The southpaw senior, Henthorn, finished with six kills while stationed on the right side, and Harrison, a junior right-hander, tallied a team-high seven kills from the left side.
“(Henthorn) can pound the ball when it’s right there for her,” Hewitt noted. “She had a great job tonight. I know tonight meant a lot to her since it was her last Civil War.”
Sophomores Alena Anderson and Hadley Bartell also managed to impress for the visitors. Bartell, a 5-foot-7 middle blocker posted six kills, six blocks and three aces. Anderson, a six-foot middle who can play the back row as well as the front row, notched six kills and five digs. Those defensive efforts included a highlight reel dive toward the Monarchs’ bench where Anderson managed to get a fingernail shim underneath what looked like a lost cause for an inconceivable save.
“I have never had a sophomore that comes in as such an obvious hitter and winds up earning an all-around spot,” Hewitt said of Anderson. “She’s so coachable. She has such a great mind and is always asking questions. And what I love about her is that when things start to fall and I have to sub her out, she’s the first person to hype that person up… she just lifts us up in so many ways.”
Anderson posted a 92% passing rate in serve receive, and Henthorn came in at 83%. Lexi Gunter was the most consistent member of the Mark Morris defense with 13 digs (82% serve receive), while Addison Arocho added 10 digs.
Rio Dieter dished a team-high 14 assists for the Monarchs and freshman Emery Hansen added 11 helpers. Dieter added a team-high five aces for good measure.
“We tried a new system tonight. I thought it went pretty well overall against a good volleyball team that hasn’t lost very much this year,” Hewitt said. “We just couldn’t quite execute.”
Civil War Stuff
Round II of Longview’s greatest volleyball rivalry did not disappoint when it came down to the extra-curricular aspects. The student sections for both school showed up en force, including oversized playing cards for the R.A. Long side.
Those cards came in handy every time R.A. Long scored a point directly off a serve with each student raising their cards high in the air as PA announcer Eric Elliot hollered, “Give that Jack an ace!”
But the best back and forth between the Mark Morris and R.A. Long students came in the third set. It started with the RAL side asking, “Why so quiet? Why so quiet?” to their guests. The rest went down as follows:
MM — Let’s play football! Let’s play football!
RAL — Let’s play basketball! Let’s play basketball!
MM — Let’s play soccer!
RAL - Let’s play volleyball!
… Not to worry, golf, tennis and softball also made the cut for the good-natured trash talk. And it all led to a memorable experience for the players on the court.
“This kind of took me back to my freshman year when it was a really big thing,” Jillian Woodruff said. “We had the whole gym full and this kind of took me back to that. It was really fun to have such a big student section.”
What’s Next
R.A. Long (11-5, 9-4 league) has wrapped up third place in the 2A GSHL standings and a spot in the 2A District IV Tournament. The Lumberjills will host Ridgefield to wrap the regular season on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“We are very thankful to not have to play any play-in pigtails or tiebreakers. That’s a big difference from last year,” Nailon said. “These athletes know how it feels to be so close and not get there and I believe that’s what keeps them so composed in these matches.”
Mark Morris (7-8, 6-7 league) currently sits in fifth place in the league standings and has locked up a playoff spot, but will have to play a pigtail game to gain entry into the 2A District IV Tournament. The Monarchs will host first-place Columbia River at Natt Court in their regular season finale on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The double elimination portion of the district tournament is set to begin Thursday, Nov. 6.
Some pics from Blastzone Media:
Some of the highlights from the X stream:
And finally, Jillian was interviewed by Jordan Nailon, posted on X.
https://x.com/TheDailyNailon/status/1981741153125806162?t=h_1MlkMFCehOCQ9DA54I6w&s=19
