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Yes, the Lions are the top-ranked team in Class 4A. And yes, they did sweep Olympia two weeks ago on their floor to end the Bears’ three-year reign as league champions and a league-match winning streak that dated back to 2007.
But the fourth-ranked Bears weren’t interested in putting a name and face on an opponent Saturday, but about getting redemption when it counts most.
With timely hitting and solid defense all around, Olympia stunned top-ranked Bellarmine Prep, 25-23, 25-23, 25-17, to win its second straight tournament title, which makes the Bears the No. 1 seed to next week’s West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament at Kentwood High School.
“We played cohesive Olympia volleyball, which we didn’t do the first time around,” said 6-foot-4 middle hitter Michaela Berendt, who had six kills and three blocks. “This win shows that we are moving in the right direction, and I know it’s really exciting that we were able to prove what we know we can do.”
The top four teams from Saturday advance to next week’s district tournament Nov. 4-5. Central Kitsap edged Gig Harbor in five sets, 25-16, 25-15, 20-25, 25-27, 15-12, in the third/fourth match.
When Olympia and Bellarmine Prep faced off on Oct. 17, the Bears had one of their worst matches of the season with several unforced errors and a low .180 hitting percentage, while being swept by the Lions in a battle of the league’s top two 4A teams.
But it was a big turnaround the second time.
The Bears, who swept Gig Harbor in the earlier semifinal match, had big performances at the net from several players. Christie Colasurdo had a team-best 11 kills, Tiana McIntosh had eight, and Berendt and Megan Goodman had six apiece. Alex Bassett dished out 32 assists, 12 digs and had two blocks.
The first two sets featured eight ties, and in both sets, Olympia grabbed the lead for good at or around the 20-point mark. Bellarmine Prep pulled to one point down in each set at 24-23 – both on kills by hard-hitting sophomore outside hitter Courtney Schwan – before Olympia’s Hannah St. Jean put away set one with one of her three kills and a Lions hitting error gave Olympia the match point in set two.
Olympia had one of its better defensive matches on the season, with players keeping rallies alive and getting big digs off the Bellarmine Prep attack. The Bears got 14 digs from libero Sadie Beckenhauer and also got a lot of hands – often with two blockers – on balls from Schwan, who was named the 4A Narrows’ MVP. Schwan had a match-high 19 kills.
“I feel good about our defense,” Olympia coach Laurie Creighton said. “We did get hands on a lot of balls, especially in the second and third sets, and turned around and took some shots back at them and created off of some decent slowdowns and digs.”
Olympia is the defending district champion and faces Rogers, the No. 9 seed from the SPSL, at 1:45 p.m. Nov. 4 at Kentwood to open district tournament play.
