By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Mt. Rainier clinched a seed into the SPSL 4A volleyball tournament with a 3-0 win against visiting Decatur (Federal Way) on Thurs., Oct. 23, to forge a three-way tie for fifth place in the SPSL 4A North with a 4-4 league record as the final regular season matches on Mon., Oct. 27 loomed ahead. The Rams could finish fifth, sixth or seventh after the final match ups.

"It's a tradition to start the senior on senior night," said Mt. rainier head coach Tom Wells. "There were a few sketchy times, but they stayed with it. I'm proud of them. We're much stronger than we were a month or so ago. This is exciting."

Starting seniors TeRessa Giamatti, Sophie Hilsen, Breann Ahlers and Sara Westhoff on senior night in Des Moines, Mt. Rainier encountered early resistance in the first set and trailed 9-5 against Decatur before closing within 12-9.

Like having a wild card in every hand, the Rams dealt out winners on the way to a 17-12 lead. The margin fluctuated slightly up and down as the MR team eventually won, 25-19.

Five ties occurred in the second set before Kim Houston's hard hitting ignited an 8-0 Ram charge for 19-11 control, but the Gators mustered up a gallant charge to get themselves within 20-17. Ally Hardy joined Houston to aid a five-point run to a Ram victory.

"We did more talking in the third set," said Alex Wilhite. "There was more covering of the blockers' front and net coverage. We layered our service returns so we could cover the hitters."

Houston had a strong all-around game with 14 kills and five aces while Hardy hammered home nine kills. Emily Lincoln contributed five kills and three blocks and TeRessa Giamatti added four kills. Sophie Hilsen posted seven digs. On the serving side, Sara Westhoff claimed four aces and Breann Ahlers got three. Westhoff cleared out 26 assists.