Fewer mistakes help Burlington-Edison beat Olympia for Capital City crown

In a close match against an experienced opponent, there is little margin for error.

When it mattered most, the Burlington-Edison Tigers made the fewest mistakes, and their reward was a championship-match victory over host Olympia in the 25th annual Capitol City Invitational volleyball tournament.

Burlington-Edison, a state tournament-tested Class 2A team from Skagit County, scored the last four points of the 15-point third-game tiebreaker to overcome a 13-11 deficit and defeat the Class 4A Bears.

“This team is really good at being relentless, at not conceding to anyone,” Tigers coach Tawnya Brewer said.

Uncharacteristic hitting and serving errors cost the Bears in crunch time in the abbreviated third game, Olympia coach Laurie Creighton said.

“You can’t give them too much of a lead,” she said. “We had opportunities to finish rallies, and we kind of let them off the hook.”

Said Brewer, “Defense is our bread and butter. We’re not a tall team, so we concentrate on strong defense.”

In Game 1 of the championship match, Olympia battled back from a three-point deficit late in the game and was serving at game point. But B-E scored the last three points, two of them on unforced Olympia errors, to win, 26-24.

In Game 2, the taller Bears asserted dominance at the net, mainly by Michaela Berendt and Christie Colasurdo, and got solid all-around play from libero Chloe Hallum, in a 25-11 win.

Burlington-Edison, which returned every player from a fourth-place team at last year’s Class 2A state tournament, outfought Selah, last year’s state 2A runner-up, in the semifinals of the 16-team Capitol City event.

“They really match us well,” Brewer said. “I’m very happy with that one.”

Olympia, meanwhile, downed Puyallup of the South Puget Sound League in two hard-fought games, 30-28 and 25-23, in the other semifinal.

“That was a great battle,” Puyallup coach Tony Batinovich said. “It allows you to measure yourself against a good program.”

Batinovich said his team is beginning to solidify at a good time, with postseason play looming at the end of the month.

“They showed a lot of guts,” he said. “They didn’t give in on themselves when they were down, and they didn’t get cocky when they were up.”

Creighton established the Capitol City Invitational in 1987, and in later years Olympia and Capital (the 2010 Capitol City champion) began taking turns with the host role.

Olympia emerged undefeated from its pool (which included Mark Morris, Bothell and Wilson) in Saturday morning play to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the afternoon championship bracket. The Bears defeated No. 8 seed North Thurston in their first championship-bracket match.

Burlington-Edison went unbeaten in its pool against Bonney Lake, Capital and North Thurston to earn the No. 2 overall seed. The Tigers topped Mark Morris in the championship bracket before facing Selah, which emerged along with Puyallup from a pool that included Sequim and Gig Harbor.

After her team donned championship T-shirts, Brewer praised her team’s tenacity.

“We love the competition,” she said. “We know that these tournaments prepare us more than anything.”

Olympia can take a lesson from its title-game loss, Creighton said.

“I felt like, on the whole, we had a really good day today,” she said. “If we can get better as a result of that experience, I’m willing to sacrifice the championship of our tournament.”