MARYSVILLE — Kamiak hasn’t lost a volleyball match since its season opener back in September.
The way the Knights have been playing, it’s possible Kamiak won’t lose again this year.
Monroe, meanwhile, was left with a bad sense of deja vu.
Kamiak (16-1) defeated Monroe in the Class 4A District 1 championship match, winning 25-18, 25-17, 25-18 at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
The win gave Kamiak its second straight district title and for a second straight year the Knights defeated Monroe (14-3) in the title match.
“I’m extremely proud of our girls,” Kamiak head coach Debra Crawford said. “The last couple weeks their whole demeanor has changed — they are very confident on the court.”
“This team is multi-dimensional; we have more than one threat,” Crawford said.
Kamiak will move onto state as a number one seed. Monroe claimed District 1’s second state seed. Both teams play next Friday in Tri-Cities; their opponents will be determined today in a draw.
Kamiak assistant coach Kim Reitz praised her team’s focus at the beginning of the match.
After spotting Monroe a 2-0 lead in the first game, the Knights ripped off five straight points to take control behind a pair of big blocks from senior Jordan Keller.
“She played really well tonight,” Reitz said of Keller, who finished with five blocks and seven kills.
Monroe tied the score at 17 behind two kills and an ace from Kylin Munoz, but a Bearcats’ mistake gave Kamiak the lead and ended the threat.
“Kamiak took us out of our offense with their blocking, and we had to make some changes on the fly,” Monroe head coach Dawn Hanson said.
Munoz finished 16-for-16 on her serve attempts, with 10 kills and eight digs for Monroe,
“She led the team in digs, and did a great job even though Kamiak took her a little out of her game,” Hanson said.
In the second game, the Knights jumped to a big lead. Bailey Jones’ twisting kill shot — threaded between two Monroe defenders — helped Kamiak build a 12-3 advantage.
“We just gave them too much of a lead,” Hanson said. “You can’t give a team like that a (big) gap. We kept trying to come back, though.”
In the third game Kamiak scored four straight during Bailey Jones’ serve to take 12-6 lead and Monroe never got closer than six. Kamiak received significant contributions during the game from outside hitter Mahogany Dodd (seven kills) and setter Devin Larson (31 assists).
“Our setter did a good job distributing the ball, and our net was huge tonight,” Crawford said.
For Monroe, Junior Kaitlyn Drew finished with 24 assists.
“We didn’t meet our goal of getting the district championship, but it doesn’t take away from the girls’ great season,” Hanson said.
Kamiak went 1-2 in state last year, getting knocked out by Rogers.
“We’re more experienced this year,” Crawford said of her team. “They’ve been here before and they know what to expect. The girls are really starting to trust each other … the chemistry is coming together.”
Edmonds-Woodway 3, Marysville-Pilchuck 0: The Warriors got some revenge on the Marysville-Pilchuck team that knocked them out of state contention last year with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-12 win in the 4A District 1 consolation match.
The win sends Edmonds-Woodway to state as the district’s third seed — their first state appearance in ten years.
“We had lost (the consolation match) two years running,” E-W coach Mike Pittis said “I’m really happy for the kids (especially senior) captain Erin Lauber, who has started for us since she was a freshman.”
E-W’s Leigh Fishback finished with 29 assists and two aces. Caitin Fellows had 15 kills and nine digs and Marisa Wellington finished with eight kills for the Warriors.
April Bobadilla had 25 assists for Marysville-Pilchuck.
“We had to hit the ball hard to have a chance to win, and it hurt our consistency today,” M-P coach Shelly Johnson said.
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