Sometimes, in the bracket-happy world of high school state tournaments, it comes down to the luck of the draw.
The Bear Creek School volleyball team swept Kittitas in its opening round match last Friday at the Yakima SunDome, and were only two matches away from playing for the championship for the first time in school history.
Then Reardan stepped in.
The No. 1-ranked Indians ended up dashing second-ranked Bear Creek’s state championship hopes, sweeping them 25-22, 25-11, 25-22 en route to winning the 2B state title.
“Reardan is big and fast,” said head coach Sherrie Brown. “It’s tough to take out the defending champions, but we played well.”
With that match finishing up around 11 p.m. on Friday evening, the girls were distraught, but a pep talk from Brown and a good night’s rest got the girls ready to rebound on Saturday.
“It was really disappointing (because) they have improved so much this year,” Brown admitted. “We just talked about it, at the end of Friday, that it’s a game, that they’ve worked hard, and sometimes you don’t always get what you want, but you’ve got to go ahead and play the next day.”
In their Saturday morning match against Pateros, the match that would guarantee them a trophy, the Grizzlies jumped out to an early lead in the first two sets, winning 25-14 in both, before losing momentum and the third set, 22-25.
Instead of allowing the tide to turn, Bear Creek dug deep, with the seniors leading the way, and took the fourth and deciding set, 25-21.
“They went to bed bummed, but got up in the morning with a desire to compete,” said Brown, whose team eventually took home their third-consecutive state trophy after sweeping Brewster with ease, 25-17, 25-18, 25-16, in the 5th/6th place finals.
A number of Grizzlies had impressive individual performances, including setter and Sea-Tac 2B League MVP Michele Brown who recorded 114 assists for the tournament, junior Makena Schoene (33 kills), and libero Morgan Cadigan (67 digs).
But it was the team’s seniors, playing for a final time in a Grizzlies’ uniform, that led the way. Bethan Meyer ended up leading the team with 44 kills and 11 aces for the weekend.
“Bethan stepped up, and just kept swinging,” Brown said. “She’s been really sore, her knee’s been hurting, but she gave everything she had for the state tournament – as did all of them.”
In addition to Michele, four other players were named to the all-league first team: Schoene, Meyer, and seniors Elizabeth Fernandez and Nikki Peterson, who Brown says is the most versatile player she has ever had.
“Michele got hurt at the end of the year, she had to step in and set for a couple matches,” recalled Brown, adding that Peterson, in her four years, has played libero, middle, outside and setter. “I tease her that I have a highlight reel of her playing every position.”
Even though the Grizzlies fell short of their ultimate goal, Brown was proud of her squad for their accomplishments, and her seniors in particular for their role in adding a fifth-place trophy to the case at Bear Creek to sit alongside hardware from 2009 and 2010 that they also helped earn.
“All of my seniors, they have poured their heart and soul into Bear Creek volleyball,” Brown said.
OVERLAKE GOES TWO-AND-OUT
Making its first state tournament appearance in school history, the Overlake Owls volleyball team lost both of its matches at the Yakima SunDome last weekend.
In their opening round, the Owls won their first set against Zillah, 25-14, only to drop the next three 25-10, 25-15, 25-17, and were swept by eventual eighth-place finishers Ridgefield 3-0.
