SHORELINE
A trip to the 1A state tournament and a likely rematch with three-time defending state champion Colfax awaits the undefeated King’s volleyball team, which earned the No. 1 seed from its bi-district Nov. 3 at Mike Martin Gym.
King’s (19-0) opens up state play against Goldendale at 2 p.m. today, Friday, Nov. 9, at the Yakima SunDome. Colfax is on the Knights side of the bracket and the teams could meet in the semifinals on Nov. 10, in a rematch of last year’s semifinal.
“I’m excited,” King’s senior outside hitter Bianca Rowland said. “We’re starting to play together and connect. I feel everyone has the right mindset.” King’s was the only team to win a game against Colfax in last year’s tournament, succumbing 25-21, 25-27, 25-13, 26-24.
“I think Colfax has to be the team to beat,” King’s coach Steve Bain said. “Whoever gets hot out there and gets on a roll, that becomes the team to beat. There’s more than one team able to do that. We just have to worry about ourselves. We have to stay on track.”
Senior co-captain Kailey Trautmann, however, said the Knights have had Colfax in the back of their minds all year.
“We have a little vengeance for them from last year,” she said.
The Knights captured their bi-district tournament title with a 25-13, 25-11, 25-18 sweep of Nooksack Valley.
King’s dominated the first two games and ended game three on a 11-4 run after Nooksack Valley tied it at 14.
Rowland and fellow outside hitter Trautmann pounded home 17 kills against the Pioneers. Trautmann also had five aces and middle blocker Erin Bremond added five kills. Setter Anna Cesari dished out 20 assists.
King’s beat Lynden Christian 25-7, 20-25, 25-17, 25-6 in a match played earlier in the day to clinch a berth to state.
The loss in the second game of the match was only the fifth game the Knights had lost all year, and first to a team other than Class 2A playoff team Archbishop Murphy.
The Knights had “some serve-receive issues” against Lynden Christian, but “as soon as we fixed that we were back on track and on our way to state,” Trautmann said.
“Overall we played pretty well,”” Bain said. “It’s good for us to have that experience of getting down. It tells us we still have stuff to work on.”
Trautmann had 24 kills and five aces while Rowland added 21 kills. Cesari had 35 assists and Bremond contributed seven kills and four blocks.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
