Shorecrest earns best state finish in its history

KENNEWICK – In both mind and body, this weekend the Shorecrest Scots proved they are definitely tough enough.

Their reward: knowing that they’re the best in school history.

The Shorecrest High School volleyball team rebounded from a close semifinal defeat on Saturday to prevail in a tight third-place match at the Class 3A state championships at Toyota Center.

It’s the best finish ever for Shorecrest, which took fourth in 2004 and sixth in 1994.

“It feels so good,” said senior Molly Gibson, who had some key blocks to help Shorecrest outlast the Camas Papermakers for third. The Scots won 3-2, including 15-11 in the decisive game.

It was the second five-game marathon match of the day for Shorecrest (21-2), which lost to Kennedy a few hours earlier. Though the Scots were mentally and physically drained, they never caved in.

“It’s hard to get through it, but I’m glad it came out how it did,” said Kerry Clavadetscher, a sophomore who had a solid all-around effort against Camas (10 kills, 17 assists, 10 digs and four aces).

Shorecrest won two straight games (25-12 and 25-20) to start its match against Camas (17-5) and got within two points of sweeping the Papermakers. But Camas persevered and gave Shorecrest a stiff challenge.

“The ebb and flow of that match was incredible,” Shorecrest coach Dave Morehouse said.

Morehouse said he talked to his team all season about learning to be mentally tough, and the Scots showed they figured it out. “We finally showed that we could be the mentally tough team we wanted to be,” Gibson said.

Shorecrest had some jitters in the third-place match and made some unforced errors, but it recovered nicely. “They won the emotional battles they were having with themselves,” Morehouse said.

The Scots’ other leaders in the final match were Anna Herold (21 digs, 20 assists) and Jamie McDonald (nine kills, four blocks).

Earlier on Saturday Shorecrest lost an intense five-game semifinal match against the Kennedy Lancers. Shorecrest won Game 1 25-17, but it eventually couldn’t stop Kennedy’s taller, high-flying lineup. Kennedy won three of the final four games: 25-20, 25-23, 23-25 and 15-9.

“It was hard to get over that,” Shorecrest’s Clavadetscher said, “but we decided we still have to compete and get where we want be.”

“That Shorecrest was a great team. That’s the best team we’ve played this season,” Kennedy coach Tom Muckerheide said before his team played Bishop Blanchet in the 3A final.

Herold (12 kills, 26 assists, 20 digs) and Brittney Harrison (nine kills, 15 digs) led the Scots in the loss.

“I think we lost energy after the first game,” Harrison said. “We knew it was gonna be tough.” And it was. A pair of 6-foot girls – Stephanie Slatt (17 kills, 11 blocks) and Ashley Eneliko (14 kills, six blocks) – propelled Kennedy.

“They just have really good blockers,” said Shorecrest’s Harrison, “and it’s really hard to move around ‘em because we’re not the biggest team.” True, but they are the best team in school history.

Kamiak ends best season

Some teams might not think much of going 1-2 at the state volleyball tournament, but it was a significant achievement for the Kamiak Knights.

Kamiak (19-6), which won a match at state for the first time ever on Friday, completed its season Saturday with a 3-0 consolation round loss (27-25, 25-14, 25-16) against Rogers of Puyallup in the 4A state championships. Kamiak coach Debra Crawford said her team played better against Rogers than it did in a 3-0 quarterfinal loss against Spanaway Lake Friday night.

Crawford said this Kamiak group is one of the finest she’s ever had, and with just two seniors the Knights should be tough again in 2007.

“I’ve had several really good teams,” she said, “and this is our third time (at state), but I think there’s definitely more (success) to come.”

Julia Church (eight kills), Mahogany Dodd (seven kills), Devin Larson (16 assists) and Melissa Fredericks (10 digs) led Kamiak against Rogers.

Murphy just misses trophy

YAKIMA – The Archbishop Murphy volleyball team’s first trip to state ended a win shy of the trophy round Saturday, but the Wildcats declared it a successful season nonetheless.

Lynden, a team Archbishop Murphy beat in five games in the District 1 semifinals, knocked the Wildcats out of the state 2A tournament 25-18, 25-22, 25-27, 25-21 in the consolation bracket at the Yakima SunDome.

“We played our hearts out,” senior middle hitter Kaitlin Hoban said. “There’s nothing to feel bad about. We left it all on the court.”

Senior libero Allie Gotz led the Wildcats with 23 digs, sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Smith added 10 kills and junior setter Patti Reeves dished out 21 assists and had 13 digs.

King’s places third in 1A

YAKIMA – King’s matched its best finish at a state volleyball tournament by taking third at the Class 1A tournament Saturday at the Yakima SunDome.

The Knights (20-1) rebounded from their first defeat of the season, a 25-21, 25-27, 25-13, 26-24 loss to Colfax in the semifinals to beat Chewelah 25-17, 9-25, 25-11, 25-23 in the third-place match.

“The kids, they bounced back,” King’s coach Steve Bain said. “It’s real easy after a disappointing loss to give up.”

Junior outside hitter Kailey Trautmann pounded down 21 kills against Chewelah and 14 against Colfax. Bianca Rowland, also a junior outside hitter, had 14 kills against Chewelah and 18 against Colfax.

Enterprise Writer Tony Dondero contributed to this report.