MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Monroe volleyball coach April Munoz said junior outside hitter Meredith Teague’s serve has improved throughout the season.
Thursday night, it couldn’t have been much better. Teague had 12 aces, including the final three points of the first set and three of the final five points of the third set, to lead Monroe to a 3-0 victory over Jackson in the 4A District 1 championship match.
“She’s got a phenomenal serve,” Munoz said. “When she’s on, it’s like a back-row attack. It’s awesome. She’s been gradually getting better throughout the season and improving. I think her confidence has improved. It’s really helped her to go out there and not be afraid to take the risks. You can see it’s paying off.”
Teague’s 12 aces were a new Monroe school record, topping the previous record of 11 set by her teammate Mina Duong earlier in the season.
“It’s pretty cool,” Teague said. “I didn’t really expect it going into it. I just kept serving and trying to put it in tough spots.”
Duong may no longer have the record, but she was happy to see it go to one of her teammates.
“I’m so happy for her,” Duong said. “She had a great game. That was crazy. She got aces on one of the better teams in our conference and I’m really happy for her.”
The Bearcats jumped to a 6-1 lead over Jackson in the first set, building momentum that lasted the entirety of the match. They went on to win the first set 25-12.
“I think the fact that we beat Jackson twice before, once you put them in that position it’s in the back of their mind, ‘oh crud, they beat us twice it could happen again,’” Munoz said of building the early lead. “It gets in their heads a little bit.”
Monroe’s resolve was tested in the second set when Jackson took an early 6-2 lead and led 15-11 later in the same game. The Bearcats answered with a 9-0 run to turn a four-point deficit into a five-point lead. They scored 14 of the final 16 points of the second set to win 25-17 and take a 2-0 lead over the Timberwolves.
“That’s one thing about this group is they don’t let down,” Munoz said. “We’ve been down before and fought back. They have a never-die attitude.”
Jackson led for a few points early in the third set, but the Bearcats were dominant overall, winning 25-18 to preserve the sweep.
Teague had 11 kills to go along with her 12 aces and senior outside hitter Jessica Clark added eight kills and 14 digs to lead Monroe.
Jackson declined to provide stats after the match.
The Bearcats finished the 2014 season with a record of 9-10 and came up one win away from the state tournament. They’ve gone from pretty good to great this season, going into next weekend’s state tournament with a 16-0 record and the label of district champions.
“We expected to do our best and try our hardest, but we didn’t expect to get as far as we did,” Teague said. “It’s a really good feeling and I feel honored to be where we’re at because the district is full of really great teams. It’s great to play with such good competition.”
Going from a sub-.500 team to an undefeated team is largely due to the amount of work the Bearcats have put in since the 2014 season ended. Thursday’s victory allowed them to enjoy what’s come of that, but they still have work to do next week.
“It means all the work they’ve done just paid off,” Munoz said. “Now they can wipe the slate clean and we’ll work to get through state. We’ll start over.”
At Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Jackson 12 17 18 — 0
Monroe 25 25 25 — 3
Highlights—Jackson: not provided. Monroe: Meredith Teague 11 kills, 12 aces; Jessica Clark 8 kills, 14 digs; Samantha Zimmerman 6 kills, 5 blocks; Alley Hadden 18 assists; Tatum McGovern 11 assists; Mina Duong 11 digs. Records—Jackson 10-7. Monroe 16-0.
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