Crusaders place eighth

  • By Tony Dondero Enterprise reporter
  • Wednesday, November 19, 2008 5:03pm

Shoreline Christian claimed its first volleyball trophy in school history, finishing eighth in the 2B tournament Nov. 14 at the Yakima SunDome.

“Definitely it’s the best team I’ve ever coached at Shoreline Christian,” said head coach Glenn Hoogerhyde, who has coached at the school since 1990. “I felt we were good enough to place second in league and go to the state tournament (at the start of the year).”

Shoreline Christian ended up third in the Northwest A/2B League. After losing to Evergreen Lutheran in the first round of the tri-district tournament, the Crusaders fought their way back through the consolation rounds to earn the No. 3 seed to state.

The Crusaders were swept in the opening round of state by Colfax, 25-8, 25-17, 25-11, which went on to win its 10th title in school history and first as a 2B school.

“Our girls were excited for the opportunity (to play Colfax),” Hoogerhyde said. “We knew that nobody would pick us to beat them. I thought our girls went in real positive and we played well. The score doesn’t reflect some the long rallies and effort.”

But Shoreline Christian followed with wins over Bridgeport (25-11, 25-18, 25-9) and Northwest Christian (Colbert) (15-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-23) to get into the fifth-place trophy game. Pomeroy beat the Crusaders 25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-16 but it still proved to be the most successful trip to state for the school, which hadn’t qualified for three years.

“I think the Bridgeport match convinced them that they were as good as the teams at state,” Hoogerhyde said. “Our girls were in a good mental state of mind and we bounced back well to get the trophy.”

Senior middle blocker Angie DeKoekkoek notched 37 kills and 16 blocks in the tournament while junior setter Anne Marie Visser finished with 76 assists.

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