The Prairie High School volleyball team first knocked down reigning 2A state champions Columbia River Rapids in three straight sets, following up with a 3-1 victory over the Skyview Storm before gaining valuable experience at a tournament in Auburn last week.
“I love every minute of coaching this team,” head coach Jen Palmer said after the Falcons’ win over Skyview High School Thursday, Sept. 12. “The work they put in every day in practice, the attitude that they have, the team chemistry, positivity, they want to work hard and they’re great teammates, and so regardless of the scoreboard, it’s been really fun to coach a team that I don’t have to worry about where they are mentally or emotionally.”
After handling the Columbia River Rapids on Tuesday, Sept. 10, in three sets, the Falcons went up 2-0 on Thursday, Sept. 12 over the Storm. In the third set, Skyview fought off a rally attempt by the Falcons. The Falcons shut down Skyview in the fourth set to claim the win.
Palmer believes the adversity in the third set will help the Falcons throughout the remainder of the fresh season.
“Skyview did a great job. … They were working hard and fighting for every point, and it just wasn’t going our direction physically. We had some errors,” Palmer said. “We had some unforced errors offensively. They were putting up some great blocks, but all of that is a great learning opportunity for what we can do in practice the next day and how we can be better against good opponents.”
Last week offered good tests for the Falcons, especially against the storied Columbia River program.
“Whenever people talk about Columbia River, I mean, it goes without saying that they’re an incredible program, and they are coached by an incredible staff and their reputation just speaks for itself,” Palmer said. “And so to have that for our season opener, we knew it was a big opportunity, and so I think that they wanted it real bad, and I think that win really set the tone for the season.”
After the tournament at Auburn Mountainview High School on Saturday, Sept. 14, the Falcons squared off against Union High School on Monday, Sept. 16, but results were unavailable as of press time. The Falcons next play their district rivals, Battle Ground, on the road for a 7 p.m. start time Thursday, Sept. 19, at Battle Ground High School.
After the first two victories, Palmer said she is thrilled to be working with this 2024 Falcons squad.
“Ultimately, I tell them that I’m just so excited to be working with them every day just because they’re blowing me away with what they’re doing in the gym and how they’re treating each other on the court,” Palmer said. “It’s just an honor to just fight through everything with them every day.”
