MARYSVILLE — Bring out the brooms — it was a night of sweeps at the 4A District 1 volleyball tournament.
No losing team won a single match in four volleyball matches played Thursday night at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
The Knights (15-1 overall) dominated the night by sweeping both Stanwood (25-15, 25-11, 25-11) and Marysville-Pilchuck (25-13, 25-12, 25-13) in clinching their second straight 4A state tournament berth.
“It feels great,” Kamiak head coach Deb Crawford said about making state for the second straight year.
The Knights also reached the 4A District 1 championship game and will face Monroe (14-2) for the second consecutive year for a chance at defending their 2006 title. Kamiak defeated Monroe in last season’s district title game. Not counting an exhibition tournament in mid-October in which Monroe defeated Kamiak, the Knights have defeated Monroe four straight including twice in the regular season.
“It’s going to be a battle definitely,” Crawford said of the championship match-up.
Kamiak used a 6-0 run to close out both the first and second games, and put M-P away in the third game by putting together a 13-1 stretch early in the clincher.
“Obviously it felt great,” Crawford said about the game three run, “I felt like we were in control from the get-go.”
Senior Devin Larson led the veteran squad with 24 assists and seven digs in the win over the Tomahawks. Seniors Melissa Fredericks (10 digs) and Julia Church (nine kills) also led the Knights.
“Devin, our setter, really ran the team. I think she did a great job,” Crawford said.
in the sweep of Stanwood, Larson led the Knights with 31 assists, Church added 11 kills and Bailey Jones had 10 kills.
“What really was on for us was our ball handling, our ball control. We controlled the ball extremely well and when we control the ball we can do what we want offensively,” Crawford said.
The Knights have won 15 straight, their lone loss coming against Shorecrest in the team’s season opener nearly two months ago (Sept. 5).
What’s made Kamiak’s streak even more remarkable is its record during the streak. The Knights have lost just two games going 45-2.
“They are a high level team. They have a lot of different weapons. It’s not just one kid, its five kids,” Marysville-Pilchuck head coach Shelly Johnson said of the Knights.
Marysville-Pilchuck (12-4), the Wesco North No. 2 seed, was led by Kristeen Juarez’s 11 kills and Anna West’s nine kills.
The Tomahawks got into the winner-to-state game by defeating Jackson 3-0 and now face Mountlake Terrace in a loser-out game at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Tomahawks faced the same situation last season when they ended up clinching the third and final 4A District 1 spot. If they beat the Hawks they could face Edmonds-Woodway, a team which defeated the Tomahawks earlier in the season.
“We lost to them earlier this year but that was early in the season. Coach (Mike) Pittis says it’s his turn this year,” Johnson joked, referring to the Warriors coach, whose Edmonds-Woodway teams have had heart-breaking losses the last two years at the district tournament losing in back-to-back winner-to state games.
Edmonds-Woodway (13-3) faces Wesco South foe Jackson (7-9), which bounced back to defeat Stanwood 29-27, 25-22, 25-17.
“They finally found their offense, finally just had the confidence to win the game. If they play their game they’re going to beat a lot of teams,” first-year Jackson head coach Erik Champoux said.
The Wesco South is showing that it may be the dominant division as all four South teams are still alive in the tournament.
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