Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Girls varsity wins 'nerve racking' finale, 28-26
Senior outside hitter Taylor Galbreath gets low in the finale set victory over Northwest Christian (Colbert) during Thursday's game.
Saige Galbreath (No. 10) celebrates after blocking a Northwest Christian (Colbert) hit.
Junior Megan Melcher digs deep to return a serve while teammate Madisyn Cameron moves in to assist, if needed.
Sophomore Addy Colbert tips the ball over the net.
RITZVILLE – The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna/Harrington girls varsity volleyball team celebrated Homecoming by sweeping Northwest Christian (Colbert), 3-0, during a Northeast 2B matchup Thursday evening, Oct. 6.
While the local Broncos swept the Crusaders, the sets were close, "way too close," Coach Cari Galbreath said.
Set scores were 25-18, 25-23 and 28-26.
"It was way too close," the coach said of the final game. "Kudos to Northwest."
The win came shortly after the junior varsity team took a 2-1 win over the visiting Crusaders.
In the varsity matchup, Galbreath credited several Broncos for outstanding play in the victory, including Taylor Galbreath and Megan Melcher.
"Taylor had a lot of kills," the coach said. "Megan Melcher seemed to pass really well today, and she did some good stuff with her hitting."
Galbreath had 14 kills on the night and Melcher had 13 digs.
Galbreath also served 4 aces.
The coach said the Crusaders played a very solid game, too.
They did some really good things – attack us and get us off our game," she said. "It got us a little rattled at times."
The key to winning, she said, was that overall the Bronco girls "played pretty steady, even when it got close."
"We had more unforced errors than I would have liked, but we'll continue to work out the kinks and get our game cleaned up.
The coach said the local team had pretty good serving and passing overall.
Still, the back-and-forth battle in the final set was "nerve racking and exhausting," she said. "I'm just glad we got the win."
The coach acknowledged that the win at Homecoming was also a big deal, noting the Bronco girls overcame more pressure in front of a hometown crowd to earn the victory.
In the victory, Zoe Galbreath and Addy Colbert each had 15 assists.
Colbert, Zoe
Galbreath and Saige Galbreath each had 1 block.
Other team members include Reagan Snider, Hannah Towne, Camden Shaver, Claire Wellsandt, Madisyn Cameron and Preslee O'Brien.
The win wasn't the only one for the Broncos last week.
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the local girls swept the Kittitas/Thorp Coyotes, 3-0. Set scores were 25-13, 25-10 and 25-8.
Individual statistics were not reported.
Looking ahead, Coach Galbreath said the Broncos are battling for a spot in the Top 4 in the NE2B.
"We haven't played everybody," she said. "So, we're going to continue working on a lot of things, serving, defense, attacking, blocking, everything.
The Broncos were scheduled to play a makeup game with St. George's on Monday night; the results of that game were not available at press time.
Roger Harnack is co-owner and publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.
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