Bruins on to districts
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, October 26, 2006
EVERETT – The Cascade volleyball team is headed somewhere it hasn’t been in quite some time.
In a big match for both Wesco North teams, it was the Bruins who came out on top, defeating the Arlington Eagles 3-1 – 28-26, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20 – Thursday night at Cascade High School.
With the win – and Oak Harbor’s 3-1 loss to Marysville-Pilchuck – Cascade clinched the Wesco North’s fourth and final berth in the Class 4A District 1 playoffs. Both Oak Harbor and Cascade finished 3-5 in division, but the Bruins advanced because they defeated the Wildcats 3-1 on Sept. 28.
“This is a big win,” Cascade head coach Wendy Close said. “We had to take care of our business here tonight and (hope) Marysville beat Oak Harbor.”
For Cascade senior co-captains Megan Morris, Courtney Smith, and Ashley Naylor, earning the chance to go to the district playoffs for the first time was all the sweeter because it happened on Senior Night.
“We’ve had three really tough seasons,” Smith, one of three Bruins co-captains, said. “Even this one was really tough. But we’ve wanted this, or at least a chance to go to districts, so bad and just to play for our school and the girls on the team.”
Despite the loss, Arlington (1-6 in division, 1-13 overall) still has a chance at securing a Class 3A District 1 playoff berth. The Eagles needed a win Thursday, and a Meadowdale loss to Shorewood, to lock up the final playoff spot. But both the Eagles and Mavericks lost, leading to a one-match playoff at 6 p.m. tonight at Meadowdale to determine which team will advance.
The Eagles played with intensity throughout the match, rallying to win the third game 25-23 after nearly pulling off a come-from-behind win in the first game.
“Arlington was fighting,” Smith said. “They played hard, they played scrappy, especially there at the end. They were trying to get everything up off the ground.”
On the other side, Cascade (3-5, 4-10) seemed flat and unsure in the marathon first game – the result of a mix-up on the official lineup submitted by Close.
“I flip-flopped my outside and my middle and so they were kind of lost,” Close said. “They played through it, came back and won.”
Naylor’s service game was critical in securing the first game. With the Eagles ahead 23-19, Naylor held serve for four points – including firing two of her five aces on the night – to pull Cascade even at 23-23.
Moments later with the game knotted at 26, Morris came on to serve the final two points and Olivia Condotta blocked an Arlington kill shot that gave the Bruins a one-game lead.
Naylor finished 26-for-26 serving and Condotta had six kills. Kara Matsazawa recorded 17 digs for Cascade.
“This one meant so much to us,” Morris said. “It’s Senior Night, so it’s a great win to leave home court on.”
Keesha Carpenter had 30 assists and five kills and served five aces for the Eagles. Shayna Prause recorded 15 kills, 17 digs and four blocks, and Suzanne Pierce had three blocks and was 15-for-15 serving, including three aces.
