Hounds sweep aside West Valley

Crisp passing and booming kills from senior Brittani Harvey highlighted Pullman's 25-8, 25-16, 25-20 sweep of West Valley on Tuesday night in Pullman.

The Hounds got off to a blistering start to set the tone for the match, jumping out to a 14-5 lead on the solid serving of Katie Travis and Jaycie Poitra.

"That was such a great start to the game. We've really been working on coming out strong and keeping that momentum throughout the game," Pullman coach Jill Nelson said.

The Hounds put the first set out of reach with eight straight points on the service of Alex Wexler.

As strong as Pullman served on the day, the most impressive part of its game was the back's ability to dig out balls and pass to teammates for kills. Junior Rachel Dinsmoor led the way with 19 digs, while Jolene Herzog was nearly flawless in collecting 28 assists.

"We've practiced passing a lot," Nelson said. "It gets overlooked a lot of times, but that is what makes our offense run, and run well."

Set two was a little closer, as West Valley actually held a lead at 13-12, but the Hounds scored 12 of the next 15 points on the serve of Dinsmoor and Herzog to make it 25-16.

While the initial serve was solid, it was Harvey who led her team with 12 kills, including several that induced "ooohs" and "ahhhs" from the crowd.

"She's been huge with that coming back from a concussion," Nelson said. "She's been awesome, and our middle hitters and outside setters added to that with their play tonight."

In the third set the contest was again close, but a lack of mistakes allowed Pullman to take control and earn a win to move to 5-3 overall and 5-2 in the Great Northern League to hold on to third place.

"I always ask, 'Who is going to finish it?' and then let them take charge, want that ball and find that killer instinct," Nelson said.

The Hounds head to Clarkston (1-5, 1-5) at 7 p.m. Thursday in their next match.

Andrew Nemec can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 231, or by email to anemec@dnews.com.