January 3, 2010 - Pre-qualifier - Longview

The 2010 season, and the 30th year of the Cowlitz Volleyball Club kicked off on January 3, 2010 with the pre-qualifier 18's tournament at Lower Columbia College, and Mark Morris High School.

The 14 team event gave us the opportunity to unveil the 18 Asics team consisting of 11 athletes from 2 different countries, and 7 different high schools. We have struggled early with injuries, illness, and basketball practice, stopping players and coaches from all being at a practice together.

It became a day of firsts, with Asics accumulating one 8-3 set record and a second place finish behind Excel Black of Vancouver. At this early juncture of the season, our defense is clearly ahead of the offense as we stifled many an opponents efforts to terminate on our side of the net.

It was a very worthwhile initial outing, so now lets meet the players:

Alesha Schulz, 5'3", libero/defensive specialist, is a senior from Mark Morris with a long history of success with Cowlitz.

Erin Bate, 5'6", libero/defensive specialist/setter, is a junior from Ridgefield.

Hannah Johnson, 5'11", setter/ opposite, a junior from R.A. Long, whose Mom was one of the original Cowlitz players back in the early years.

Vanessa Reich, 5'6", outside hitter from Toledo by way of Schlierback Germany, will only be with us thru January before she returns home.

Kylie Moses, 5'9", setter, a junior from Woodland, is the daughter of Karen Moses (Mills) who encountered head coach Bill Marshall in his early years at R. A. Long as she led her Cheney High School team against R.A. Long.

Stephanie Styger, 5'11", outside hitter/middle blocker, a senior from Napavine in just her second year in the club.

Shantelle Savage, 5'5" defensive specialist/outside hitter, a senior from Mark Morris, this veteran of the club wars will add spice to any position she plays.

Caitlin Perrin, 5'10" outside hitter, a junior from Toutle Lake is up from our 16 Asics team, and will push others for an outside spot.

Rachel Morrow, 6'3" middle, a junior from R.A. Long is the second tallest player in club history, and should become a mainstay at the net.

Kylie Hochhalter, 5'11" middle blocker, a junior from Ridgefield is returning to Cowlitz after a 2 year absence, and will push for minutes after recovering from her injury.

Katie Sarysz, 5'11" middle blocker, a senior from R.A. Long is a veteran of Cowlitz teams following in her older sister's footsteps, and is capable of playing any of the 3 front row positions.

Scores from January 3rd competition:

North County: 25-7, 25-12

Gig Harbor: 27-25, 22-25

Power Surge Gold: 25-17, 25-10

Narrows Purple: 25-12, 25-10

Excel Silver: 25-21, 25-12

Excel Black: 14-25, 17-25

Keep watching for more tournament updates!

Coach Marshall