EVERETT – The Shorecrest Scots showed that the Western Conference is still a force to be reckoned with in volleyball.
Their were four teams representing Wesco in the Class 4A and 3A tournaments this weekend at the Everett Events Center. Only Everett in the 4A tournament and Shorecrest in the 3A tournament advanced to the second day. The Scots were the only team to win a trophy.
Last season, Lynnwood placed eighth in 3A and Marysville-Pilchuck was state runner-up in the 4A tournament. Shorecrest continued that success with a 25-21 25-20, 25-23 win over West Valley of Yakima to finish fourth in the 3A tournament.
“You don’t really expect to finish in a certain spot at the state tournament,” Shorecrest coach Dave Morehouse said. “We got the feeling toward the end of the season we were a pretty good team. In the quarterfinals we were probably five points away from winning and who knows, we could be playing in the final.”
Morehouse said it took a while for Shorecrest to bounce back from Friday’s quarterfinal loss to White River, the eventual state runner-up.
“Early on we struggled,” said Morehouse of his team’s 25-16, 16-25, 25-17, 29-27 loser-out victory over Mark Morris. “We were down 19-10 in the fourth game before we finally regrouped.”
The match for fourth place was much different, as the Scots never allowed West Valley a chance to challenge in the three-game sweep.”
“They had a little more offense than us, but we’re used to that,” Morehouse said. “We’re not a big team. Defense makes it work for us.”
Defense was the key for Shorecrest all tournament, as every player, from 6-foot-1 middle blocker Becky Scherer to 5-5 defensive specialist Emily Domingo, were diving to get to balls.
“You could tell (West Valley) was getting frustrated, because the balls kept coming up,” Morehouse said.
Everett wasn’t as fortunate during the second day of the 4A tournament.
The Seagulls lost 3-2 to Kentwood in a loser-out match, despite a career-high 29 kills from senior Jennifer Luatua.
“We didn’t have our ‘A’ game,” Everett coach Heather Burglund said. “We showed up and played well and met our goal of making it to state.”
Everett was never out of its 25-18, 13-25, 22-25, 25-14,15-11 loss Saturday, but the Seagulls never found the right combination against Kentwood.
“It was bizarre,” Burglund said. “We kept wondering what we were doing differently in the games we lost.”
Nicole Barhanovich made 44 assists, 14 digs, three kills and two aces for Everett Saturday. Teammate Kelsey Larson had 11 kills and 13 digs, while Elaina Olson and Tomeka Evans had six blocks apiece against Kentwood.
2A District 1 tournament: At Bellingham, playing on their home floor Meridian swept Lynden Christian 3-0 to win the 2A District 1 championship. Both teams advanced to state. Also advancing to state was King’s, which swept Archbishop Murphy 25-18, 25-16, 25-22 in a loser-out match, then defeated Mount Baker 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 to finish third. Sara Mosiman had 21 kills, Carissa Clark had 12 kills and Ashley Strecker added 41 assists for King’s.
1A tri-district championship: At, Coupeville, Coupeville won the tri-district championship by defeating the No. 1 seed, Bush, 14-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-23. Coupeville, seeded No. 3, appeared intimated by Bush’s UW-bound Jill Collymore, putting up 14 points in the first game before settling down and taking the final three games of the match. For the tournament, state-bound Coupeville was led by Mindy Horr’s 11 aces, 40-for-42 serving and 40 assists. Taniel Lamb was 31-for-31 on serves with 10 kills and Jennifer Bailey added 15 kills and two blocks for Coupeville.
B tri-district tournament: Darrington defeated Clallam Bay 25-23, 25-17, 24-26, 25-19 before ending their season with a loss to Mount Vernon Christian, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21. It was Darrington’s first loss in the tri-district tournment since 2000 and was the first time in nine years the Loggers had not qualified for the state tournament. For the tournament Darington’s Saori Yoshida was 66-for-69 serving with 19 aces and Eliza Schillhammer had 23 kills.
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