EVERETT — From the moment the Shorecrest volleyball team was sent packing on the first day of last year’s state championships, the Scots made a pledge to advance deeper into the draw this fall.
Shorecrest fulfilled that promise by winning three of its four matches at last week’s Class 3A state tournament to place fourth.
“We came in (ranked) eighth and here we are now in fourth,” middle hitter Becky Scherer said. “It feels awesome.”
It was the best finish for the Scots in school history, but the celebration that followed their sweep of West Valley (Yakima) to complete consolation play Nov. 6 at the Everett Events Center was somewhat low-key due to the hangover from a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss.
Eventual runner-up White River staged a late rally to squeak by Shorecrest in a five-game thriller the night before. The outcome triggered an avalanche of emotions for the Scots, who saw their five-point lead in the final game evaporate.
On the way home that evening, outside hitter Emily Gould felt so discouraged about the down-to-the-wire defeat she shuddered at the thought of returning to the arena on Saturday.
“I was like, ‘Dad, I don’t want to go back tomorrow,’” Gould said.
The next morning, libero Lauren Herold laid awake tossing and turning while the critical junctures of the back-and-forth White River match were replayed over and over in her head.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” Herold said. “I kept thinking about the game.”
That lingering frustration was still strewn across their faces when Herold and the Scots took the court a few hours later to warm up for a loser-out contest against Mark Morris — instead of a semifinal showdown like they were shooting for.
The team’s teetering mindset was reflected by its play as Mark Morris built an 11-7 edge in the opening game before the Scots snapped out of their slump with a 7-1 spurt that placed them in front for good.
With its attitude realigned, Shorecrest went on to dismiss the Monarchs 25-16, 16-25, 25-17, 29-27. The Scots fended off three Mark Morris game points in the fourth game after the teams traded 10-1 scoring sprees.
“As that match went along, some of the jitters and the emotional baggage jettisoned and I think they were fine after that,” Scots coach Dave Morehouse said. “Their goals kind of reappeared. It was hazy there for a minute.”
Shorecrest fell in an 11-2 hole in the second game and was unable to get closer than five points. Solid serving from Gould and Emily Domingo helped the Scots open the third game with a 13-3 run and their lead never dipped below seven.
Scherer paced Shorecrest with 11 kills and four blocks, Mary Tseng added 10 kills and freshman setter Anna Herold dished out 28 assists. Domingo and Lauren Herold combined for 24 digs.
In the fourth/seventh place match the Scots overcame another sluggish start to overpower West Valley 25-21, 25-20, 25-23. The Rams led most of the first game until Scherer delivered two blocks and a pair of aces as part of a 6-1 run that put Shorecrest ahead to stay.
Tseng broke a 15-all tie in the second game by blasting one of her team-high 14 kills and serving out the next five points. The junior outside hitter was serving again in the final game when the Scots pulled away with a 6-1 run that boosted their lead to 12-8.
The cushion swelled to as many as eight before the Rams rallied. West Valley survived four match points to shrink the gap to one when Gould answered with a well-placed spike down the line to clinch the victory.
“We played with real good intensity and fire,” Morehouse said. “Even if we weren’t getting to balls, we were making a great effort. Bodies were flying around, which is what we do well.”
Gould finished with 11 kills and 18 digs and Anna Herold added 38 assists, 13 digs and two kills. Scherer had nine kills, four stuff-blocks and three aces, Libby Reynolds had six kills and Lauren Herold had 17 digs.
“I’m just glad we ended up with a win to end our season,” Gould said. “After having a season like we had and being so devastated after (the White River match), it was good to come back and end on a good note. For all of the seniors, we didn’t want to go out like we did (in the quarterfinals). I’m really happy with the way it ended.”
When the state brackets were released the Scots were encouraged by the possibility of playing White River for the second year in a row. The Hornets battled back from a game down to defeat Shorecrest in the opening round of last season’s tournament.
The rematch was even closer.
The teams took turns dictating the action as Shorecrest relied on its ball control and never-say-die defense to neutralize White River’s offensive weaponry.
“That’s kind of the way it played out,” Morehouse said. “Obviously their offense got the better of us at the end. They had some tough rotations we couldn’t get them out of.”
White River weathered a valiant comeback attempt by the Scots to escape with a 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 14-25, 15-10 victory en route to the championship match.
Shorecrest never owned the lead in the opening game, but there were 10 lead changes in the seesaw second game. No more than two points separated the teams until Shealun Campisis aced the Scots on game point.
The next two games belonged to Shorecrest as the Hornets were hampered by hitting errors. White River scored six straight points to close its deficit in the fourth game to 11-10, but the Scots regained control with a decisive 9-3 run.
“We dug a lot of balls and frustrated them,” Morehouse said. “They made a few errors that got us back in the game. The momentum was theirs for the first two and went back to us for the next two-and-a-quarter games.”
The Scots scored the first five points of the fifth game, forcing White River to spend a timeout. After Scherer’s kill made it 7-2, the Hornets capitalized on six Shorecrest errors to charge ahead with a 10-2 run. Three of White River’s final four points came off spikes by middle blocker Sara Bendorf.
“At the end of the fifth game, they played just about flawlessly,” Morehouse said. “We made some errors, but they played very, very well. We didn’t play terribly by any means.”
Tseng led Shorecrest with 16 kills and 13 digs, Scherer added 13 digs and 13 kills and Anna Herold had 41 assists and three kills. Gould had nine kills and 30 digs, Domingo had 17 digs and two aces and Reynolds had 10 kills.
Recovering from the narrow defeat was especially difficult for the team’s five seniors, who were making their third consecutive state appearance.
“That was a pretty emotional loss for us,” Scherer said. “I think we all were kind of wondering what would happen (Saturday), but we all came with our game faces and look what we did.
“We were working together as a team. When one thing didn’t work, we had something else to go to. We kept on bouncing off each other’s energy and got it done.”
To open the tournament Shorecrest swept Black Hills 25-19, 25-22, 25-17. The Scots never trailed by more than two in the first two games and led the final game from start to finish.
Gould supplied 24 digs and six kills, Scherer added 10 kills and Lauren Herold had 23 digs. Anna Herold had 24 assists and Reynolds had five kills.
With its pair of consolation victories Shorecrest ended the season 22-2 overall. The only team other than White River to beat the Scots was Wesco South champion Everett, a Class 4A state qualifier.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Morehouse said.
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