EVERETT — Since losing to King’s on Sept. 29, the Archbishop Murphy volleyball team has been on a mission.
Wednesday night, they accomplished that mission.
The Wildcats earned their share of revenge by sweeping the Knights, but more importantly clinched at least a share of the Cascade Conference championship. With only one league loss, the Wildcats control their own destiny. A win over Cedarcrest on Monday will give them the outright league championship.
“It’s something that we’ve been talking about all year,” Archbishop Murphy head coach Brandon Jones said, referring to winning a league championship. “We went up to (the Knights) gym and we got our tails kicked and we made up our minds right then and right there that we were going to change it and we set out to change it. I’m so proud of these kids. They worked so hard and they deserve it. We deserve it.”
The Wildcats clinched a share of the title on their home floor on senior night. Lauren Braswell, one of the team’s two seniors, had trouble hiding her excitement.
“It’s amazing,” Braswell said. “It’s been my main goal since freshman year. To be able to achieve that goal and leave that legacy here is more than I could ever ask for.”
Archbishop Murphy gave up the opening point of the first set, but dominated the remainder winning 25-20. Junior outside hitter and team captain Jaime Cymbaluk had three early kills and senior Megan Ehlebracht had three aces in a four-point span for the Wildcats, helping them build a 9-2 lead.
“We have a hard time keeping our emotions stable, so if we start off the game with bad points or not playing well, we’re going to be trashed for the rest of the game,” Cymbaluk said. “If we start strong and I inspire the team early on, I know everyone else will pick each other up. And if I’m in a rut, I know they will pick me up too. So I have to set the example that we have to inspire each other in order to have a win.”
Archbishop Murphy has played 14 matches this season and has given up the first point in 13 of them, but that hasn’t stop the Wildcats from winning 13 of those matches.
“We’re like an old car,” Jones said. “It takes us a minute to get started, but we’re more fun to drive.”
King’s jumped out to a lead in the second set, only to see Archbishop Murphy fight back and take complete control of the match with a 25-23 set victory, which gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
“They came back and in that second set and we had to fight our way back on them,” Jones said. “We trailed that whole set. In the first set they fought back against us. They are an amazing team. That’s why we’re so fired up. If we didn’t respect them we wouldn’t care, but it’s a big deal to us to beat a good team.”
Cymbaluk got the Wildcats going early in the match and junior outside hitter Sam Hayward helped them close it out late. She had several kills in the third set, including the final kill of the match.
“I’ve never had a group of girls that believe in each other so much,” Jones said. “One person might do the first few (kills) and the next person might do the next few and somebody else steps up for the next few and it’s not we’re going to throw every ball to the same player like some teams do. We’re a team. We count on all six of our players on the court at the same time, but for (Hayward) to push late. She made up her mind that every ball she swings at is going to have some heat on it. She didn’t hit one soft ball the rest of the night. She was just hammering it.”
Since losing to King’s, Archbishop Murphy has won eight matches in a row. Two of those victories came over Cedar Park Christian-Bothell, which was undefeated until falling to the Wildcats on Oct. 12.
King’s and CPC-Bothell still have shot at tying Archbishop Murphy for the league championship. If the Wildcats lose to Cedarcrest on Monday, the winner of Monday’s King’s-CPC-Bothell match would earn a share of the league title.
At Archbishop Murphy H.S.
King’s 20 23 15 — 0
A. Murphy 25 25 25 — 3
Highlights—King’s: Daylee Hanson 13 kills; Marlee Young 6 kills; Sydney Gaenz 6 kills; Casey Kispert 23 assists; Anna Hoff 12 digs. Archbishop Murphy: Jaime Cymbaluk 14 kills, 1 ace; Sam Hayward 20 kills, 8 digs; Lauren Braswell 12 digs; Megan Ehlebracht 4 aces, 2 digs. Records—King’s 11-2 league, 11-2 overall. Archbishop Murphy 12-1, 13-1.
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