Lake Stevens volleyball claims Wesco 4A title

SNOHOMISH — The Lake Stevens High School volleyball team suffered only one league loss the entire regular season, and it was to Glacier Peak in September when the Grizzlies topped the Vikings on the road, 3-1. However, the storyline flipped 180 degrees on Monday night when it was Lake Stevens’ turn to travel to Glacier Peak’s gymnasium.

Both teams entered the contest with 10-1 league records. The Vikings arrived on a seven-game win streak and hadn’t dropped a set in the last four games while the Grizzlies won their past three games and hadn’t conceded a set in the past two matchups.

But instead of suffering their second league defeat of the season, No. 6 Lake Stevens (14-3 overall, 11-1 league) delivered a team-total 40 kills to secure its third-straight Wesco 4A title and give Glacier Peak (15-2, 10-2) its second loss.

The Vikings extended their win streak to eight and also did it in four sets, 3-1. Scores were 25-20, 22-25, 25-21 and 25-18.

“What worked is us just playing our game, playing how we can, playing within ourselves, not trying to do too much,” said Lake Stevens coach Kyle Hoglund. “We had a little scheme on them, and the girls executed.

“(In the second set), we had a few unforced errors, lost that edge, tried to battle back,” he continued. “But you get down by six, seven points, that’s hard to come back by. The girls never stopped trying, and they never stopped pushing, so that’s all that matters.”

Vikings junior outside hitter Laura Eichert registered 30 kills and 10 digs, freshman defensive setter Audrey Iseminger and sister Ella combined for 36 digs and three aces, junior middle hitter Kamryn Strom added three kills, three aces and two blocks and senior outside hitter Jayci Scrivens charted seven kills and four digs.

There were eight lead changes in the first set, and when the score was tied 17-17, Scrivens scored two consecutive points, which eventually helped give Lake Stevens a 1-0 advantage. Glacier Peak responded in the second set, getting out to an 8-3 lead after winning seven-straight points, and the Grizzlies never trailed for the remaining scores.

“It’s tough beating a good team twice,” Glacier Peak coach Dave Thorn said. “To give my players credit, they battled, they fought and played some great defense. But we just couldn’t string enough points together.

“(In the second set), we were controlling the ball well, we were attacking aggressively,” he continued. “I think in the first set, we got a little doubt in our heads, and we got a little reactive rather than trying to take control of the game. And (Lake Stevens) took advantage of that.”

The Vikings scored the first point of the third set, and though there were a few tied scores throughout, Lake Stevens never needed to rally from behind. Glacier Peak began the fourth set with a 5-1 lead, but that slowly disappeared, and the Vikings took an 11-10 lead and once again never had to climb up from the bottom. Eichert rocketed one of her right-handed missiles to notch the final point and put the game to rest.

Grizzlies senior outside hitter Ava Nowak had 11 kills, senior middle blocker Hanna Ligons added nine kills and three blocks, senior setter Lucy Cornelius contributed 28 assists and nine digs and senior libero Tessa Mossburg helped on defense with 12 digs.

“I’m really happy that we made progress since the last time we played GP,” Eichert said. “We looked at their tendencies, and we applied it. We did a really good job of like Jayci Scrivens hitting the deep corner or flying deep because we noticed those were their open spots. … Things started to click, and we started to play together and trust each other more, and so that (gave us the edge) in the third and fourth sets.”

Transitioning to the postseason, Lake Stevens looks to make its fourth-consecutive state appearance after placing seventh in 2021, second in 2022 and fourth in 2023. However, raising a district trophy is priority on the Vikings’ agenda since they lost in the championship game to Bothell in 2021 and North Creek the past two years.

Lake Stevens is seeded No. 2 in the District 1/2 4A tournament and will play a quarterfinal match on Saturday after a first-round bye.

The Grizzlies are the No. 5 seed and will begin the tournament in Saturday’s first round.