It’s an Overlake two-fer to state as both the Owls volleyball and girls soccer squads qualified for the 1A tournaments this week.
On Nov. 1, the volleyballers defeated Northwest, 3-1, to notch their first Emerald City League tourney championship. The Owls (15-2) also won the league regular-season title.
In a postgame interview on the Owls’ Twitter page, Liv Sather said she felt great before she was mobbed by her elated teammates. The squad features seven freshmen, three of whom are starters.
First-year coach Justice Magraw is a Redmond High graduate and former University of Washington player. She was named league coach of the year.
The Owls lost to Lynden Christian in the bi- district championship and seeding game for state on Saturday and will take on Kiona Benton in the first round at 5:15 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Yakima Sundome.
Sather and Amanda Lin are the team’s senior captains and “are incredible leaders and true examples of the team’s core values,” said Magraw, adding that “there is an incredible base of talent and spirit on the team with all players contributing in many ways on and off the court.”
Through that leadership, the freshmen have grown physically, mentally and emotionally this season and the team has continued to improve, said Magraw, noting that the Owls played their best volleyball against Northwest to claim the league title.
Sather was voted league co-most valuable player and also notched first-team honors along with Lin, who also plays varsity basketball and tennis, a sport in which she won a state doubles title with Maria Russinovich last spring.
The defending state champion soccer team beat Meridian, 4-0, on Nov. 2 to clinch a state spot.
Also in a postgame Owls’ Twitter interview, Janna Basra — who scored a hat trick — said: “I feel great. It was really nice to get those three goals. Team’s going to state again, so we’re super excited for our game next week.”
Faith Kipnis also scored on a 50-yard free kick against Meridian for the 15-2-1 Owls, who beat Montesano, 2-0, on the road in the state first round on Nov. 8. Overlake has conceded just seven goals in 18 games this season.
Basra and Serena Home tallied against Montesano.
Sally Goodspeed earned league coach of the year honors for the third year in a row.
“The girls have been focused and together all season long. We work together, share the ball and have a balanced attack with a strong defense,” said Goodspeed, noting that the Owls have 18 different goal scorers. “We are looking forward to the challenge of the state tournament and know we’ll be ready to play our best soccer of the season.”
Leading scorers are Sofia Beachman with eight goals and 18 assists, Basra with 10 goals and one assist and Keely Likosky with five goals and 10 assists. The defensive backline of Kate McConnell, Kipnis, Kail Wastell, Kayla Ngai and goalkeeper Jamison Foster have helped notch 10 shutouts.
• In 3A action, Lakeside defeated Redmond, 3-0, in volleyball to end the Mustangs’ season in the SeaKing District tourney on Nov. 1.
On the girls’ soccer side, Bellevue beat Redmond, 2-1, in a loser-out match in the KingCo playoffs on Nov. 2.
Nine Redmond girls soccer players kicked their way onto the 3A KingCo all-league team this fall.
They are: First team, Mackenzie Ault and Nicki Chan; second team, Izzy Bach-Lefler, Emma Raffman and Andrea Dang; and honorable mention, Valerie Chung, Erin Crosier, Taylor Pisan and Beth Ollerenshaw.
