TLG wins District five tournament...on to State
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
TLG pulled off the upset of the year when they defeated Klickitat 25-20, 25-20, 15-25, 25-22 on the way to the District 5, 1B championship. The win sends TLG to the State 1B volleyball tournament for the first time since Trout Lake and Glenwood combined forces in sports. Klickitat would rebound from the loss and sweep Bickleton for second place and a repeat trip to State. Bickleton was third and Sunnyside Christian finished fourth.
TLG coach Angie Cox believed her team would contend for the league title at the beginning of the season, but they would have to overcome the inconsistency that plagued the team in recent years. Cox was encouraged by the dedication of several players to off-season club ball and believed a pair of freshmen setters, Chelsea Cox and Dakota Jones would make a difference. Both girls became starters, allowing Cox to integrate Veronica Glenn into the attack.
Cox was also expecting an improvement in attitude with leadership from seniors Dana Kavanagh and Julia LaVallie. But, questions remained when the team struggled against Klickitat in the three regular season matches. Most recently was a crushing three set loss to Klickitat at Trout Lake on Nov. 5, that gave Klickitat the undisputed and undefeated championship of the Greater Columbia Gorge League.
There was a lot of soul searching for TLG following that loss. "We spent a lot of time...on motivational talks and mental toughness exercises," said Cox. They also put in a lot of time working on passes, which truly paid off in the tournament.
The opening round of playoffs saw TLG easily defeat Bickleton in the first set, then eke out a 25-21 win in game two before the gritty Pirates won a hard-fought 27-25 win in game three. However, the Mustang-Eagles were on a mission, and they roared to a 25-17 win in game four putting TLG into the championship match.
Klickitat made their way to the championship match by trouncing Sunnyside Christian in predictable fashion. The Vandals would build a lead with Zoe Lindner serving and Samantha Brewer knocking home kill shots. When Brewer rotated to back-court, the Knights would close the gap. But the Knights couldn't make up enough points before Lindner was back serving again and Brewer was beating them at the net. Game two was a 26-24 win and game three was a 25-6 drubbing.
The two winners met in the title match, but the formula didn't work against TLG. Liz Vogt was on her game, thanks to good passing and setting from the TLG squad. When Vogt wasn't scoring on hard shots, she was interfering with Brewer's game, either blocking shots or causing adjustments that just didn't work out for the Vandals.
From Klickitat coach, Jaecee Hoctor's perspective, it was all about poor passing. "Our serve receive and just passing killed us," said Hoctor. Brewer had 61 kills in the tournament and Lindner scored nine aces.
The Mustang-Eagles had 91 percent accuracy on passes and their freshman setters, Jones and Cox combined for 26 assists as Vogt knocked down 17 kills against Klickitat. Glenn, freed from setting, was also big on offense, accurate on 32 of 33 attacks in the two matches.
Cox was credited with 22 assists against Bickleton and served 11 straight points in game one, finishing with six aces. Tasha Johnson led the team with nine digs against Klickitat.
The season was frustrating for Bickleton. The Pirates seemed doomed to injury and illness from the very beginning. Hoping to vie for one of the two state slots, the team lost a lot of fire power when Katelynn Clinton's right arm injury limited her attack and at least four other players missed matches due to injury and illness.
Coach Kim Clinton credits her team for never getting down and their game three win over TLG showcased their character. Freshman Jamie Venema pulled the Pirates to within one on a big kill at 23-24 and Johanna Jensen tied it with an ace. Star Kibby finished the match with an ace. In the end, Bickleton didn't have enough guns to contend
First round matches will be played on Friday at the Yakima Dome. TLG will play Kingsway Christian on court four at 9 a.m. Klickitat takes on Three Rivers Christian on court one at 10:30 a.m. A win for either team would put them in a 3:30 p.m. match on Friday. TLG would play the winner of Crescent versus St. John-Endicott and Klickitat would play the winner of Lummi versus Almira/Coulee-Hartline.
An opening round loss would send them into the consolation bracket with matches at 9 a.m. on Saturday. It also means a team could finish no better than fifth, and that would require three straight wins on Saturday.
Nine of the 16 teams in the tournament, including Klickitat, played in the 2008 tournament. Klickitat was sixth, losing to LaCrosse-Washtucna (tournament winner, and defending champion this year) and Wilbur-Creston.
Timberwolves narrowly miss bid for seventh straight State volleyball tourney appearance
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
After accumulating five State trophies since 2003, Goldendale's long run of state appearances came to an end when they lost a five set match to Naches Valley in the SCAC tournament, Saturday. It ended the school's longest run of appearances in a state championship event.
Naches Valley
It is hard to imagine two more evenly matched teams than Goldendale and Naches Valley. The Rangers came out on the losing end of two previous epic battles with the Timberwolves. Saturday afternoon was the third and most important of the three matches this year, and Naches Valley finally came out on top, 27-29, 25-20, 25-20, 25-27, 15-11. Goldendale won eight of the 15 games between the two teams this year. The average winning margin in all games was less than four points.
Goldendale actually had its best shot at making State in the match prior to the Naches Valley showdown. It was another five set battle, this time against Royal in a second round match with the winner automatically getting one of the three SCAC State berths.
Burbank
Goldendale made their way to the second round of the playoff against Royal by defeating Columbia-Burbank in Goldendale last week, 25-21, 25-23, 25-17. The Timberwolves jumped to a 16-9 lead over the Coyotes following back-to-back aces by Haley Hoffman in game one. The Coyotes showed some life after winning a great point, filled with hard shots and digs on both sides of the net. While the Coyotes' rally came up short, they carried the improved play into the second set, assisted by a lapse in Goldendale passing, leading by two at 17-15. It was a close match to the end until Tayler Bradley smashed a kill shot that made it 24-21 and the Coyotes misfired a serve for the final point.
Burbank was off to a 4-1 lead in the third set before Bradley served Goldendale back into a 7-4 lead.
Ashley Barrett returned to the floor for the first time this year, looking a little rusty on her first hit, but quickly fired two kills in a row giving Goldendale a 12-9 lead. Lexi Cameron hit winners from the back row and Bradley served up four more winners, including her second ace to make it 24-20. The final point came on another Coyote serve that didn't clear the net.
The Wolves knew it would be a tough battle to make it to State, having split regular season matches with Granger and Zillah, and Royal and Connell were looking strong in the east.
Royal
The match against Royal tested Goldendale's young players, as they had their backs against the wall after falling behind on 25-23 and 25-22 losses. Coach Jodi Bellamy complemented her Timberwolves for showing great heart in pushing the match to five games following a pair of Timberwolf wins by scores identical to the Royal victories.
Royal's experienced line-up of eight seniors battled Goldendale point-for-point in the final match, which was tied at 11 before the Knights pulled away for the 15-12 win. Three points was the difference between making it to State and going home.
Goldendale graduates MoniQue Scherf, Amber Ihrig and Cassie Kelly from a young, but experienced team. Three freshmen and three sophomores saw plenty of action in tough matches, giving the team reason to hope for a return to State next year.
Lori Smith coach of the year in 2B
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Lyle-Wishram volleyball coach Lori Smith was tabbed by her peers to be 2009 Mid-Valley Coach of the Year. Smith admits that at times it seems she has been in a perpetual rebuilding mode at Lyle-Wishram, but has always credited her players for their determination, often in the face of tall odds. The team was also honored with the sportsmanship trophy for 2009.
While the accolades are nice, the Cougars were intent on making a match of it against first round opponent Riverside Christian. The young squad had some spirited moments in the match, but eventually fell in three sets, 25-19, 25-13, 25-13.
Karlee Roth and Brianna Brock were perfect from the serve line and Roth was credited with three kills, as was Yesica Gutierrez. The team will lose Gutierrez to graduation, but expects the rest of the girls to be back next year.
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