Archbishop Murphy wins twice to earn state berth
Published 9:41 pm Wednesday, November 4, 2015
SHORELINE — Archbishop Murphy swept both Bellingham and Anacortes in the 2A District 1 tournament Wednesday to advance to the championship match and earn a state playoff berth.
In the first match, junior Sam Hayward’s 24 kills paced Archbishop Murphy over Bellingham by set scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-19. Sophomore Natalie Hayward added 33 assists.
In the semifinal, Hayward again led the Wildcats with 17 kills in a 25-18, 25-14, 25-13 win over Anacortes.
The Wildcats will face Burlington-Edison at 7 p.m. Saturday at Shorecrest High School in the district championship match.
“It was an unbelievable night,” Archbishop Murphy second-year head coach Brandon Jones said. “It was one of those nights when you think about it days before and it works out even better. Before the match they played duck-duck-goose … nothing bothers this group … they take each game all the same. I’ve never had a team like this in my 20 years of coaching, they are amazing.”
Last year the Wildcats went 1-2 in the state tournament losing in a five-set match with eventual state winner Tumwater.
“Our seniors are invaluable, (Lauren Braswell and Megan Ehlegracht) are tremendous positive leaders. This group does the fundamentals so well and all those little details add up to doing the big things well. These girls just really love playing volleyball together,” Jones said.
At Shorecrest H.S.
Anacortes 18 14 13 — 0
Archbishop Murphy 25 25 25 — 3
Highlights—Anacortes: not reported. Archbishop Murphy: Sam Hayward 17 kills, 8 digs; Jaime Cymbaluk 13 kills, 3 aces; Natalie Hayward 31 assists, 3 aces. Records—Anacortes 11-5 overall. Archbishop Murphy 16-1.
At Shorecrest H.S.
Bellingham 16 19 19 — 0
Archbishop Murphy 25 25 25 — 3
Highlights—Bellingham: not reported. Archbishop Murphy: Sam Hayward 24 kills, 8 digs; Natalie Hayward 33 assists, 24 digs; Jaime Cymbaluk 11 kills, 2 aces. Records—Bellingham:9-6 overall. Archbishop Murphy: 15-1.
