Murphy wins twice, earns volleyball state tournament berth
Published 10:02 pm Wednesday, November 5, 2014
SHORELINE — When Brandon Jones took over the Archbishop Murphy volleyball program at the beginning of the 2014 season after coming over from Cedarcrest, he asked the Wildcats to give him a chance to lead them.
The players bought in, and now they’re headed to the 2A state tournament for the first time since 2011 after knocking off Bellingham and defending state champion Burlington-Edison on Wednesday in the 2A District 1 tournament at Shorecrest High School.
“I put it in their heads from the very beginning that we were going to the state tournament,” Jones said. “Every day at practice we talked about going to state, and they believed from Day 1. That’s how you knock off a team that has won state two of the last three years.”
After sweeping Bellingham to advance to the tournament semifinals, Archbishop Murphy gutted through a 26-24 victory in the first set against Burlington-Edison before the Tigers handed them a 25-14 loss to even the match.
“Burlington-Edison plays some of the toughest defense I have ever seen,” Jones said. “They just cover everything, and finding spots and holes were incredibly difficult.”
Jones said that Burlington-Edison continued to roll in the beginning of the third set, but the Wildcats’ Jaime Cymbaluk registered three of her five blocks in the match on consecutive points to give Archbishop Murphy a spark.
“That turned the entire set,” Jones said of Cymbaluk’s blocks. “Burlington-Edison went away from their offense at that point and started tipping a little bit. We moved up to compensate and they hit balls right to us.”
Sam Hayward had 13 kills and 21 digs for Archbishop Murphy against the Tigers, Cymbaluk added 11 kills and McKenna Palmer dished out 39 assists to go along with nine digs.
Archbishop Murphy plays undefeated Sehome 2 p.m. Saturday at Squalicum High School for the district title.
“It’s going to be a tall order, but we want that district championship. We’re really excited to play them,” Jones said.
Archbishop Murphy 3, Bellingham 0
At Shorecrest H.S.
Bellingham152017—0
Archbishop Murphy252525—3
Highlights—Bellingham: not reported. Archbishop Murphy: Natalie Hayward, 13 kills, eight digs; Sam Hayward, 13 kills, eight digs; Lauren Braswell, 22 digs; McKenna Palmer, 11 digs. 37 assists. Records—Bellingham 9-8 overall. Archbishop Murphy 11-5.
Archbishop Murphy 3, Burlington-Edison 1
At Shorecrest H.S.
Burlington-Edison24251923—1
Archbishop Murphy26142525—3
Highlights—Burlington-Edison: not reported. Archbishop Murphy: S. Hayward, 13 kills, 21 digs; Jaime Cymbaluk, 11 kills, five blocks; Palmer, 39 assists, nine digs. Records—Burlington-Edison 12-6 overall. Archbishop Murphy 12-5.
