MARYSVILLE — If volleyballs could speak, they’d surely shout their hatred for Kelsey Brennan and Kylin Munoz.
Brennan and Munoz, teammates on the Monroe High School volleyball team, smash the small, white orbs as if they were the source of all evil. That’s bad for volleyballs and even worse for Monroe’s opponents.
Munoz (21 kills) and Brennan (18 kills) powered Monroe to a 3-1 victory over the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks Thursday in a Western Conference North Division match at the M-P gym. After getting off to a slow start thanks to M-P’s fearless blocking, Monroe won by game scores of 23-25, 25-16, 25-20 and. 25-20.
In a battle of teams ranked in the top 10 of the Class 4A state coaches’ poll, No. 6 Monroe ultimately regrouped and blasted its way to a pivotal division triumph. The Bearcats improved to 4-0 in division (8-2 overall) and served M-P (4-1, 7-3), tied for 10th in the 4A coaches’ poll, its first Wesco North defeat.
Asked if she was worried about her team’s loss in Game 1, Monroe coach Dawn Hanson said she knew her players would respond. They did, after losing a league game for the first time this season.
“It’s a focus thing for them. Games like this are good for them because it reminds them what they need to do,” Hanson said.
Jerrika Groeneweg (20 digs) and Kaitlyn Drew (40 assists) made key contributions for Monroe, which changed the complexion of the match by scoring nine consecutive points to win game two. The Bearcats — ignited by potent hits from Brennan, Munoz and Taylor Davis — started strong in each of the next two games and fought off M-P’s comeback attempts.
“That’s a tough team. … They’re running a really nice offense and Kylin and Kelsey are pretty tough to stop. That’s a pretty amazing combination,” M-P coach Shelly Johnson said.
Monroe, which plays host to many of the state’s elite 3A and 4A teams Saturday at the sixth annual Bearcat Invite, is tied with Oak Harbor (4-0, 8-1) for first place in the North. Oak Harbor, which beat Everett Thursday, plays Monroe and M-P the final week of the regular season.
Monroe, which hasn’t lost a division match since 2005, is the favorite to win the North, Johnson said. The Bearcats’ resilience impressed M-P’s coach.
“They have a couple really experienced players, and experienced players don’t let down when it’s tough. They kind of got their team going again,” Johnson said.
M-P’s top performers were Emily Boerger (10 kills, four stuff blocks), Anna West (seven kills), Kristeen Juarez (six kills) and Jadelyn Thompson (31 digs).
M-P withstood the intimidating combination of Brennan, a 6-foot-2 senior middle hitter, and Munoz, a 6-1 junior outside hitter, in the first game. But Monroe’s big bashers eventually wore down the Tomahawks.
“We knew we could get through it. We just needed to pick it up and get rolling,” Brennan said.
Monroe practiced extra hard this week to prepare for M-P, said Munoz.
Munoz scored a kill and tallied eight straight service points to help Monroe win game two, and Brennan repeatedly struck with jackhammer blasts from the center of the court.
“She can be a big, huge force when she wants to put that ball down,” Hanson said of Brennan, who verbally committed to play volleyball for New Mexico State University. “She’s a really strong kid.”
Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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