The La Center Wildcats volleyball team matched up against its toughest 1A Trico League competitors, the Stevenson Bulldogs, in a top-10 1A volleyball showdown on Thursday, Oct. 17.
The Wildcats dramatically won the match, 3-1, in the fourth set with a late rally.
Another highlight of the night occurred before the match when La Center senior Mia Achziger was awarded a special ball marking her 1,000 career digs. She added 19 more to her total in the 3-1 win.
Coach Cymany O’Brien said Achziger reached the 1,000 career digs mark during last season’s district finals. O’Brien now believes Achziger has accumulated more than 1,200 digs, stating that Achziger is the first Wildcat to achieve 1,000 career digs for La Center since before 2020.
The Wildcats improved their 1A Trico League standing to 10-0 with Thursday’s win, giving them a two-game advantage over the Stevenson Bulldogs who sat at 8-2, both losses courtesy of La Center, as of Oct. 17.
After the Wildcats won the first set, 25-20, Stevenson stopped a La Center rally to tie up the match one a piece with a 25-23 set win. The Wildcats then steamrolled the third set, 25-13, before a dramatic come-from-behind, 26-24 set win to finish the night.
“You have to work hard for every point,” O’Brien said. “When I called the time out, I just talked to them about working for every point and just being in the moment one point at a time and working together like that was, work together, be together, work for every point. And they were just really calm and believed in each other and really leaned into that and were determined, really determined.”
Billie Ross, another senior for the Wildcats, took control while serving to finish off the third set and spark the big comeback in the fourth set. She ended the night with eight aces, six kills, one block, 12 digs and 21 service points.
“In the third set, she served the last eight points, and five of them were aces,” O’Brien said.
Esther Langeliers had a big match for the Wildcats as well, finishing the night with 22 kills, five blocks and seven digs. Her 22nd kill of the night secured the win for the Wildcats.
“I had the utmost confidence in them, and it just was like that gritty determination and Esther’s confidence to take that swing and swing aggressively like she did,” O’Brien said of Langeliers’ match-winning kill. “That’s senior confidence right there, too.”
As the season comes to a close, O’Brien said it’s important to not overlook any opponent in the 1A Trico League. In practice, she added that the Wildcats will continue to work hard on the defensive side of the ball, which was crucial in the win over Stevenson High School.
The Wildcats next faced the Castle Rock Rockets on Tuesday, Oct. 22, but results were unavailable before press time. They will host the Fort Vancouver Trappers at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24.
