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3A Prep Volleyball: Kelso’s best efforts not enough to top Timberline
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3A Prep Volleyball: Kelso’s best efforts not enough to top Timberline

Emptying the Tank — Gutsy Hilanders drop loser-out tilt at Districts in four sets

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Blast Zone Media
Nov 17, 2024
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3A Prep Volleyball: Kelso’s best efforts not enough to top Timberline
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Kelso junior Royal Grafton eyes the ball to extend a point in a 3A Bi-District 3/4 Tournament volleyball game on Friday, Nov. 15, at Mount Tahoma High School. The Hilanders went 1-2 in the tournament and saw their season end, Saturday. — Joshua Hart / For Blast Zone Media

It might not seem like a storybook ending, but that’s only if you haven’t been paying attention. After all, many of the best sports films of all-time end with the protagonists in agony. Well, the believable ones anyway. That’s why we love Rocky Balboa and that Jamaican bobsled team, because it’s supposed to be the work and struggle against adversity that counts the most. Not just the proximity to gold at the end.

It’s the same reason you’re supposed to root against the Yankees. And why the rest of the world roots against Team USA in the Olympics.

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So when the Kelso volleyball team fell in four sets to Timberline, Saturday, in a loser-out match of the 3A bi-District 3/4 Tournament at Mt. Tahoma High School, it wasn’t so much that it ruined the narrative. It’s just that it wasn’t the fairytale Hilanders fans had hoped for.

“Our record shows we won a lot of games and we fought a good fight,” Kelso coach Michelle Mury said.

Kelso sophomore Sheena McGregor smiles with Kelso senior Josie McNew and Kelso junior Brooke Hefley in a 3A Bi-District 3/4 Tournament volleyball game on Friday, Nov. 15, at Mount Tahoma High School. — Joshua Hart / For Blast Zone Media

After falling to Capital in their opening contest on Friday, and then bouncing back to knockout Kentlake in the evening, the Hilanders had little margin for error on the dark side of the bracket. Things looked promising out of the gate on Day 2, and hopes grew even higher for the Kelso faithful, but after winning the opening set the Hilanders dropped the match by torturously close scores of 19-25, 25-21, 25-21 and 25-23.

The hot start had fans wearing blue and gold making plans for a long day at the gymnasium with the Hilanders hunting a State berth. It looked like the Blazers might be a step slow after a four-set match loss in the morning to Prairie ran late, but it turned out Timberline wasn’t ready to be done.

“I was hoping that would be the case, but not this time,” Mury said.

Kelso coach Michelle Mury directs her team from her infamous crouched position in front of the bench in a 3A Bi-District 3/4 Tournament volleyball game on Friday, Nov. 15, at Mount Tahoma High School. — Joshua Hart / For Blast Zone Media)

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