High School Volleyball: Toutle Lake takes five-set thriller at Toledo
Momentum Swings – Balanced attack helps Fighting Ducks top Riverhawks in The Gateway Game
Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
Prep Volleyball / Report
TOLEDO — The Ducks lived up to their Fighting moniker at Murdock Gymnasium with a five-set win over Toledo in Central 2B League volleyball action. After taking the first two sets of the night, and then watching the tables rapidly turn, Toutle Lake was able to escape Cheese Town with a win in the Gateway to the Blast Zone Game by scores of 25-19, 25-14, 13-25, 19-25, and 15-7.
The quick start was easy to explain for Toutle Lake head coach Erika Gould.
“Energy. Competitiveness. The want to win,” Gould emphasized.
Kendal Dean led the Ducks with seven kills (.374 efficiency), 18 assists, six digs and a serve receive rating of 2.61.
And that smorgasbord of a stat line doesn’t do justice to the role that Dean plays for Toutle Lake. The truth of the matter is that Dean can swing with power, set with accuracy, dump with precision, dig with enthusiasm, and set a block next to her twin sister Lainey if the situation calls for it. And it’s her ability to do a little, or a lot, of everything that makes the Ducks’ so difficult to pin down.
“She’s my talker and my leader,” Gould noted. “Having her and her leadership out on that court makes a huge difference.”
But nothing would come easy for the East Cowlitz County crew in South Lewis County. Not against a group of Riverhawks who were undefeated less than a fortnight ago.
— Toledo’s Ellie Fallon (3) fires the ball over the net and gets the point to win Toledo the third set of the night against Toutle Lake at Murdoch Gymnasium. / Video by Ben Hendrickson for Blast Zone Media —
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