Kamiak title hopes dashed
Published 11:24 pm Friday, November 9, 2007
KENNEWICK — As her teammates shuffled by with tears in their eyes and pained expressions on their faces, Julia Church kept everything in perspective.
Church, a senior on the Kamiak High School volleyball team, and the Knights endured the disappointment that comes with an oh-so-close five-game defeat in the state quarterfinals.
But Kamiak isn’t finished yet, Church noted.
“At least we’re still in it,” said Church, whose team lost a hard-fought match against Lewis &Clark of Spokane Friday, the first day of the Class 4A state championships at the Toyota Center.
Kamiak, which hadn’t lost a non-invite match since Sept. 5, fell to Lewis &Clark in the quarterfinals by game scores of 25-27, 25-21, 17-25, 25-16, 15-11. The Knights play Skyview of Vancouver at 2 p.m. today in a loser-out consolation- round match.
“We can still play for fourth (place). We’re grateful to be here,” said Church, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter who Monday verbally committed to play next year for the University of Idaho.
Third-ranked Kamiak (Washington State Coaches Association 4A poll) took a two-games-to-one lead over No. 9 Lewis &Clark, but L&C seemed to gain confidence in Game 3 and rallied to stun the Knights.
“We almost played like we wanted it too much,” Church said, “instead of being relaxed and having fun like we usually do.”
Kamiak advanced to the quarterfinals by sweeping Shadle Park of Spokane earlier Friday in the first round. After starting slow and falling behind 11-7 in Game 1, Kamiak started clicking and pummeled Shadle Park by game scores of 25-23, 25-17, 25-14.
Senior setter Devin Larson tallied 29 total assists and nailed an ace that ended the opening game. Kamiak’s other leaders were senior middle blocker Jordan Keller (10 kills, nine blocks), senior defensive specialist/libero Melissa Fredericks (22 digs) and Kierra Riley (12 kills).
It seemed everything Riley did worked perfectly for the Knights. “She played the (match) of her life. She was on fire,” Kamiak coach Debra Crawford said of the 5-foot-11 senior hitter.
Riley, who attributed her success to a pre-match visualization exercise, praised teammates for helping Kamiak start the tourney so strongly. Excellent passing by Fredericks and Larson was crucial, she said.
“That’s exactly what we wanted,” said Riley.
If Kamiak beats fourth-ranked Skyview today, it will advance to the 5 p.m. fourth/seventh-place contest. That would guarantee Kamiak the first top-eight trophy in program history.
The area’s other 4A tournament teams, Monroe and Edmonds-Woodway, both endured first-round defeats Friday. Rogers of Puyallup beat Monroe by game scores of 25-23, 25-20, 25-15, and Curtis drilled E-W 25-14, 25-15, 26-24.
Monroe, ranked No. 6, appeared on its way to a Game 1 victory over No. 5 Rogers. But the Bearcats blew a late-game lead and never quite regained their initial intensity.
Monroe plays Puyallup at 10:30 a.m. today in a loser-out consolation match. Making its third consecutive state tourney appearance but still without a match victory during the stretch, Monroe can place as high as fifth.
Unranked E-W, making its first state tourney appearance in 10 years, has a loser-out consolation match at 10:30 a.m. today against Inglemoor. E-W quickly fell behind by two games against Curtis but played much better in the final game, tying the score at 24-24 before losing two straight points to end the match.
After the humbling loss, Warriors coach Mike Pittis said he told his team, “‘We worked so hard to get here. Enjoy it.’ And I’m not sure we were (enjoying it).”
They’ll try to recapture some joy today, along with Kamiak and Monroe.
Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
