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NEWPORT — Despite putting up a fight, the Newport High School volleyball team lost against two league powerhouses last week.
“We knew going into this week that we would be seeing two of the toughest teams in the 2B league,” coach Kathy Eggleston says.
Newport (1-1, 1-2) visited Northwest Christian (1-1, 5-1) in Colbert Tuesday, Sept. 15, competing hard against the Crusaders. The Grizzlies worked for every point, Eggleston says, dropping the first set 25-23 before taking the second 25-19 to tie up the score. After the teams went into a deuce, the Grizzlies narrowly lost the third set 27-25. Again, Newport tied up the score and took the fourth set 25-16, bringing Northwest Christian to a tiebreaker set.
Though the Grizzlies dropped the tiebreaker 10-15, Eggleston expresses pride at their hard work and support for each other.
“The team fought hard and worked on finding options for getting through Northwest Christian’s defense,” Eggleston says.
Newport’s serve receives were strong, and the Grizzlies put up a lot of hits, proving their strength and determination.
Dominating the net was Grace Parry with 21 kills and seven blocks. Eggleston says Parry is a gamechanger who is just getting started; as she gains even more experience and control, Parry will become someone to watch.
Kaylia Earl, with her consistent ability to cover all areas of the game, once again proved invaluable to the Grizzlies. She added nine kills, nine digs, three blocks and an ace, Eggleston says.
Central to Newport’s defense, Kenna Arthur added 28 assists and even showed off her defensive abilities with 10 digs. Grace Keck added 22 digs, while Bella Boyd added four digs, three aces and three blocks.
Lily Jenkins maintained a steady presence with seven digs, five kills and three blocks. Cooper Reed, who consistently went on long serve runs, added one ace. Marri Hinchliff added six kills and three digs.
“We just had small errors in all the wrong moments,” Eggleston says.
Later that week, Newport visited Lind-Ritzville (4-0) Thursday, Sept. 17. Though Lind-Ritzville won in three straight sets, the Grizzlies did not let them do so easily. Newport brought Lind-Ritzville to a deuce in the first set, losing 24-26. Still, the Grizzlies fought to keep up with Lind-Ritzville in the second and third sets, which ended 23-25 and 21-25 in close losses for Newport.
“It was just an off night,” Eggleston says. “Even with that, going in we worked hard staying in the game.”
The Grizzlies continued to work options and support each other in timeouts and on the court, Eggleston says. They will iron out some kinks in practice, as Newport did not play their normal tempo game.
Hinchliff had another strong night, Eggleston says, with 13 digs, six kills, three aces and one block. Parry added 12 kills and five blocks; Arthur 23 assists, 13 digs and a kill; Grace Keck nine digs and two aces; Earl eight kills and six digs; Abby Martin 11 digs and one ace; Lilli Hall eight digs and one kill; and Jenkins three blocks.
“I look forward to seeing Lind-Ritzville in playoffs once we’ve really hit our stride,” Eggleston says.
Newport next hosted Davenport Tuesday, Sept. 22, after The Miner’s weekly deadline. This week, they visit Riverside at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23 and host Jenkins from Chewelah at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24. They host Liberty from Spangle at 6:45 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, then visit Kettle Falls at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29.
