The 1A La Center Wildcats are now ranked 11th overall in the entire state of Washington according to MaxPreps, and second in the 1A classification after adding two more wins last week.
La Center added a three-set win against 1A top-10 and 1A Trico League rival Kalama High School on Tuesday, Oct. 7. The Wildcats added a 3-1 win over Columbia High School to improve to 8-0 in league play after Thursday, Oct. 9.
When counting tournament wins, the Wildcats are 18-0 after last week. Of those 18 matches, La Center has dropped just five total sets. A huge part of that is the work ethic and attention to detail championed by the players under head coach Cymany O’Brien. The most crucial part is the consistency from the setters.
“I’m lucky I’ve got these incredibly savvy setters,” O’Brien said. “The connection that my setters and hitters have is incredible, just how they work together and know where each other is going to be.”
Wildcat setters Bailey Espana racked up 14 assists, 16 kills, two digs and one ace while Quinn Erickson added 21 assists, four kills, six digs and an ace.
The Wildcats have just five matches left to go in the season, and never look past the next opponent.
“We’re a moment-by-moment group,” O’Brien said. “I don’t like them to ever think beyond what we’re doing today, but getting the point, not thinking about the outcome.”
For O’Brien and her team, mindset is everything, which was well on display in the Oct. 7 win over the Kalama Chinooks.
After going 25-22, 25-22 to go up 2-0 on Kalama, a team that previously took La Center to five sets earlier in the season, the Wildcats had their backs against the wall in set three. Ultimately, the Cats would still go into a fourth set with the lead, but the Wildcats scratched that out. They mounted a comeback to win set three 26-24, sweeping the Chinooks.
“It’s about winning the first point and if we get down a little bit, we go back,” O’Brien said, “and that’s what we talk about. We talk about how we’re not focused on the outcome. We’re not focused on winning or losing. We’re focused on getting the point, celebrating, having good energy, lifting each other up.”
Despite the tremendous success, O’Brien said, “We’re not playing our best yet.”
What exactly does that entail?
“There’s still stuff that we can do, and hitting the peak at the right time is key, right?” She said. “And so I’m excited to see when we hit that peak. I just know they’ve got a little bit more to give, a little bit more to refine in some certain areas. I am blessed because they are an incredibly hard-working group of girls, and they think they are super talented top to bottom. They can tell somebody’s having a little bit of an off nigh,t and they lean in and somebody makes an adjustment and realizes they’re going to do the work tonight.”
To reach their peak at the right time, O’Brien said that focusing on basics and details will be a daily practice, whether in game action or at practice.
The Wildcats played at Stevenson on Tuesday, Oct. 14, but results were unavailable at press time. They next play at home against Castle Rock High School on Thursday, Oct. 16.
