The Bear Creek School volleyball squad showed its toughness at the 2B Tri-District Tournament last Saturday at Edmonds-Woodway High School, winning two consecutive loser-out matches to earn its first-ever 2B state tournament.
The Grizzlies (12-6) take on LaSalle in their state opener Nov. 13 at the Sun Dome.
After an opening loss to LaConner in the tri-district tournament, the Grizzlies stepped up in a big way against Shoreline Christian, sweeping the Crusaders 3-0 with game scores of 25-19, 25-10, 25-15, setting up the deciding loser-out, winner-to-state showdown against league foe Rainier Christian.
The Grizzlies had lost two of its previous three against the Mustangs, but won the one that counted most.
After the Grizzlies pulled away late to win game 1, 25-20, and out-hit the Mustangs to win, 25-16, in the game 2, the third and final game went down to the wire with the Grizzlies squeaking out a 25-23 victory.
Bear Creak junior hitter Maddie Easley had her biggest game of the year with 14 kills and 13 digs. Dominique DuBois added eight kills. Michele Brown set the table 20 times with assists to go along with a team-leading six service aces.
Mack Young falls short of second straight cross-country title
Mack Young, the defending Class 4A state cross-country champion, had a bull’s-eye on his back going into last Saturday’s state meet at Pasco’s Sun Willows Golf Course.
Young’s back-to-back bid fell short as he settled for sixth, taming the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 37 seconds.
Central Kitsap senior Shane Moskowitz, who finished a close second to Young in 2008, crossed the finish line first this time around. Moskowitz overtook Young and ran away from the field with a 16-second victory, finishing the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 6 seconds.
The only two other Redmond High boys to finish in the top half of the 144-runner field was Will Young (31st, 16:06) and Miles Hille (56th, 16:28).
On the girls’ side, senior Devin McMahon, who sat out last season with a heart condition, completed her comeback senior campaign taking the third-place medal with a time of 18:23. Garfield senior Anna Dailey won in 17:58 and improved from a 54th place finish last year.
Other top-half finishers for the Mustangs included Holly Young (26th, 19:26) and Jenna Sanders (66th, 19:54).
Longtime Redmond coach Denis Villeneuve was awarded the 4A Coach of the Year at the meet.
Harper wins breaststroke at district meet
Heather Harper, a home-schooled junior who swims for Redmond High, will be the favorite to win back-to-back titles in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Class 4A state swim and dive meet, which starts today and concludes tomorrow.
Harper enters the state meet at the top seed in the 100 breaststroke after winning the Sea-King District gold medal with an automatic All-American time of 1 minute, 4.97 seconds last Saturday at Juanita Pool. Harper edged out Skyline freshman Maria Volodkevich, who clocked a 1:05.23.
In addition, Harper has also qualified for state in the 100-yard butterfly, placing fourth at districts with a time of 58.86.
The Mustangs finished ninth in both the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yeard freestyle relay, ending the meet in 11th place with 45 team points.
The state meet will be held Friday and Satruday at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Overlake volleyball knocked out of postseason
The Overlake School volleyball team went to a first-to-15 tiebreaker against Seattle Christian at the 1A Tri-District tournament last Saturday, but the Owls were unable to stop the red-hot Warriors, led by 6-foot-2 sophomore Katie Collier who notched 20 kills in the match.
Seattle Christian came back from an 0-2 hole to stifle Overlake 25-12, 25-18, 15-9 in the final three games to advance while the Owls were eliminated.
The Owls finished the season with an 11-7 record.
