2025 Volleyball Roundup for Thursday – November 6

1A DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

• Meridian 3, Nooksack Valley 1

MERIDIAN 3, NOOKSACK VALLEY 1

In a match between two rivals teams that have lived in the state’s Top-10 rankings all season, it came down to one final match to determine which team would move on to the 1A state tournament, and which team would be done for the season.

The first set was close throughout, and a kill by senior Grace DeHoog gave the Pioneers a 24-22 lead. The Trojans rallied back with a kill by senior Taya Benson, followed by a Benson ace with tied it at 24-24. A block by junior Raegan Burke gave Nooksack Valley a 25-24 lead, which prompted a timeout by Meridian.

Senior setter Chloe Bressler then set up fellow senior Gracie Pap who crushed it down to the court to the game back at 25-25, and mis-hit by the Pioneers followed, which gave the Trojans a 26-25 lead.

It continued to see-saw a desperation one-hander by DeHoog, who was just trying to keep the play alive, just skimmed the net and fell to the floor to tie it back up at 26-26.

Meridian quickly regained the momentum on a kill from junior Eden Bernardy, and that was followed by a block by Pap to give the Trojans the 28-26 win in the first set.

Nooksack Valley evened the match at one game each when DeHoog’s kill gave her team its 25th point to defeat Meridian 25-21.

The pivotal fourth set ended when Trojan sophomore Melanie Short smacked a kill from the back court to the Pioneer back-right corner of the court, and Meridian won it 25-23.

The Trojans led the fourth set 22-16, and was looking to close it out quickly, but Nooksack Valley continued to hang around. The Pioneers scored three of the next five points, but still found themselves down 24-19, but a service air made it 24-20, and gave the ball back to Nooksack Valley to serve.

The pressure was on Pioneer junior Karson Olney, as one bad serve would end the season, but she kept putting line-drives over the net, and a kill by junior Elizabeth DeLange was followed by a diving dig by senior Avery Juergens, and a kill by senior Payton Bartl prompted a timeout by Meridian with the Trojans now up 24-22.

Bartl then fed senior Gracie Rutgers who’s crosscourt kill made it 24-23 as the volume in the already packed gymnasium got even louder. A long volley presumed, and it ended with a kill by Rutgers to tie the fourth set up at 24-24.

At this point, my mind is racing as I’m trying to find a way to get BOTH of these teams into the state tournament, and as I looked up a service error took place, which gave the ball back to the Trojans as they held a 25-24 lead.

Another long volley took place, and a Meridian kill attempt went too long, which tied it back up at 25-25. It was followed by a DeLange kill that gave the Pioneers a 26-25 lead, but a flying attack by by Bernardy tied back up once again.

Short then floated in the air for the kill, but lightly touched it over the net to give her team the lead back at 27-26, but a Bartl-to-DeHoog power-shot tied it up again.

Pap then flew in for her ninth kill of the night, and it was followed up by a combination block by Bressler and Benson to take the fourth set 29-27.

The win will send Meridian to the state tournament, and the Nooksack Valley Pioneer season came to a close with an overall record of 15-6.