WOODLAND — This season, the Class 2A Higher St. Helens League’s volleyball awards included a Setter MVP class for the primary time.
It’s straightforward to see why Ridgefield senior Callie Curran earned that honor.
Curran has spent the entire season setting her teammates up for achievement. That continued Thursday as Ridgefield swept R.A. Lengthy (25-22, 25-17, 25-15) within the first spherical of the District 4 match at Woodland Excessive Faculty.
The Spudders (14-3) now have two probabilities to clinch a state match berth on Saturday, beginning with a semifinal match towards Tumwater.
With losses solely to reigning 2A state champ Columbia River and Camas, the state’s No. 2 Class 4A workforce, Ridgefield has saved the identical excessive customary that has seen the Spudders attain the final 5 Class 2A state championship matches.
Curran has been a giant purpose for that. A place that requires athleticism, a high quality contact and a selfless angle fits the Ridgefield captain completely.
“I just love hyping up my teammates,” Curran mentioned. “I think that’s the position where you get to do that the most. When you set up your teammates and they get a good kill, that’s really exciting.”
After graduating seven seniors, Ridgefield has seemed to sophomores Ella Burke and Paige Hanes as the first outdoors hitters. Curran, who herself turned a varsity starter as a sophomore, shortly took the pair underneath her wing.
Amongst her 46 assists Thursday, Curran arrange 14 kills for Burke and 10 for Hanes.
“If we didn’t have such an amazing setter like Callie leading them and telling them how to hit … I don’t think those hitters would be as good as they are,” mentioned Ridgefield coach Sabrina Dobbs.
For a setter, being the workforce’s lynchpin requires greater than athletic expertise. It could imply a supportive phrase when, regardless of an ideal set, the hitter makes an error.
“She’s always trying to hype the team up,” Burke mentioned. “Even when girls are down she goes over and gives them a high five and says ‘OK, you’re good.’”
“The connectivity with your setter is so important,” Hanes added. “If you don’t have that connection, nothing can happen.”
Whether or not it comes from her love of Disney music or that she has youthful siblings, Curran is sort of a massive sister to the seven underclassmen on this 12 months’s workforce.
“She’s very open and loving to the younger kids and makes them feel welcome,” Dobbs mentioned. “That’s probably coming from her starting as a sophomore on varsity. She knows how the young ones feel.”
A primary-team all-leaguer final 12 months, Curran discovered the Ridgefield approach from prior workforce leaders and future collegiate gamers Lizzy Andrew (Stanford), Natalie Andrew (Navy) and Paige Stepaniuk (Portland State).
“She says what needs to be done and sets a high expectation, which is good,” Burke mentioned. “That makes us better players.”
At 5-foot-10, Curran seems to be the a part of a center blocker or outdoors hitter. In truth, she solely adopted the setter place three years in the past.
Dobbs mentioned that athleticism makes Curran distinctive amongst setters, particularly on protection.
“Callie is a tall girl who can play the front row and block balls,” Dobbs mentioned. “She’s very dynamic with her setting. The variety of her sets, she can set it to the outside or the back.”
Ridgefield enters the ultimate day of the district match having gained 13 of its final 14 matches. That lone loss noticed the Spudders push Columbia River to 5 units after being swept by the Rapids early within the season.
Curran believes her workforce can proceed that momentum and capitalize on the expansion the Spudders have proven.
“I think this team can go really far,” she mentioned. “We’ve already built a great bond. I think we can do really well in the postseason.”
Different district matches
COLUMBIA RIVER 3, WOODLAND 0 — Sophia Gourley had 18 kills because the Rapids rolled into the semifinals 25-10, 25-11 and 25-8.
2A GSHL participant of the 12 months Sydney Dreves had 15 kills and a team-high 16 digs.
Columbia River will face Mark Morris on Saturday morning, the primary of two probabilities to clinch a state berth.
TUMWATER 3, WASHOUGAL 0 — The Evergreen Convention champion Thunderbirds knocked the Panthers into the loser-out bracket.
MARK MORRIS 3, ABERDEEN 2 — The Monarchs, who completed third within the 2A GSHL, triumphed in a five-set thriller over the Evergreen Convention runner-up.