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Back in June, the Tigers competed with some of the nation’s elite high school and club volleyball teams at the annual Phoenix Volleyball Festival. They placed 11th out of 64 teams in the 17-and-under age bracket, and were the highest-placing high school team.
The experience provided more than great competition and team bonding in the triple-digit Arizona heat some 1,500 miles from home. It was the start of a journey the Tigers hope has an unforgettable ending Saturday night – a state championship.
This isn’t your typical small-town volleyball team. The Tigers not only are the No. 1 program in 2A, but many who follow the sport consider them the best team in Washington, regardless of classification.
Need proof? They are 29-0-2. They have knocked off former top-ranked 4A teams Jackson and Bellarmine Prep, as well as Olympia, which was No. 2 in 4A at the time. And they have defeated 3A state-tournament participants Auburn Mountainview, Capital and Prairie.
As a result, they rank No. 100 in PrepVolleyball.com’s top 100 national rankings and are the overwhelming favorite to win its first state title at The Evergreen State College in Olympia.
“Everything we’ve done this season has built up and prepared us for the end,” Tigers coach Tawnya Brewer said.
The town of Burlington, with a population of approximately 8,300, sits an hour north of Seattle, and 30 minutes south of Bellingham, just off Interstate 5. Historically, Burlington became a hub city in Skagit County because of its farming, agriculture and railroads.
Because of its relatively remote location, some of B-E’s best players have traveled to play with select club programs. Setter Katlyn Mataya drives two hours to play with the Kent Juniors. And fellow seniors Jordan Lautenbach, Courtnie Wells and Lucy Capron play for Anacortes-based Skagit-Island Volleyball Academy (SIVA).
Before that, the teenagers played together for the small Burlington Volleyball Club just to keep active in the offseason.
Last summer, the Tigers were in non-stop volleyball mode. In addition to their better-than-expected performance in Phoenix, they won two team-camp tournament titles at Central Washington (defeated Selah) and Gonzaga (defeated Auburn Mountainview).
Then the season opened with a bang – an upset of Jackson High School, the defending 4A state champions – in a thrilling 3-2 non-league match in Mill Creek.
The big wins didn’t stop there.
They rolled through the Puget Sound adidas Invitational at Auburn Mountainview, defeating Lake Stevens, Auburn and Bellarmine in 4A, and Prairie and Auburn Mountainview in 3A.
At the Capitol City Invitational in Olympia, the Tigers went undefeated, including a 26-24, 11-25, 25-13 win over Olympia in the championship match to earn its second tournament title.
“We step up our game when we know the game on the other side of the net is going to be a lot tougher,” said Capron, an outside hitter.
Brewer is in her 18th season as the Tigers’ coach. But her relationship with seniors Lautenbach, Mataya, Wells and Capron began in middle school when she coached their team during the high school offseason. Even then, Brewer noted their “natural talents” as seventh graders.
Lautenbach, Mayata and Capron have attended the same schools since kindergarten and their unity continued into high school where they have been varsity starters since their freshmen year.
“All my best friends are on the team,” said Lautenbach, an outside hitter. “We’ve been tight forever.”
B-E is not a big team height-wise. In fact, the Tigers and second-ranked Selah are the shortest teams of the 16-team field at the 2A tournament. Wells, a middle hitter, is the team’s tallest player at 5-foot-9. Their average height is between 5-7 and 5-8, which is the norm for Brewer’s teams. In her 18 seasons, she has not had a player 6 feet or taller.
Their success comes with passing and defense. Opponents’ taller hitters may have an advantage at the net, but B-E players excel at digging and passing.
Continuity has also been big; the team’s starting lineup has been the same for three years.
“We’re more than a family,” said Mataya, the Northwest Conference’s two-time MVP. “Looking in, you can’t understand it. Looking out, you can’t explain it. We wouldn’t be where we are without each other. You don’t find a team like us very often.”
As a 2A school competing in the 3A/2A/1A Northwest Conference, B-E doesn’t often see teams from other parts state unless they schedule out-of-area tournaments.
Brewer said she schedules tough regular-season tournament opponents to prepare for postseason play and to see how they stack up among the state’s elite higher-classification teams.
“If we hadn’t played in those tournaments,” said Brewer, who calls this year’s team the best all-around team she’s coached, “I don’t think we would’ve been pushed at that level.”
The seniors have never lost a home match.
They’ve won the Northwest Conference regular-season title outright the past two years, sporting a perfect 13-0 record in both seasons. They’re also 50-2 in league play over the past four seasons and earned four state trophies in the past five years.
“Having that continuity every year and building on the previous season has been awesome,” Brewer said.
In recent years, many of the girls sports teams have flourished since the school went to 2A. In 2008, the girls track and field team won the state team title, followed by a fastpitch state title in 2009. And last year, the Tigers’ girls basketball team played in the 2A state title game, falling to Prosser.
Now it is the volleyball team’s turn to bring home a state championship.
In eight previous trips to the state tournament, the Tigers have earned five trophies but no state title. In 2009 and ’10, the Tigers lost to eventual state champion Pullman in the quarterfinals. They bounced back to beat Black Hills, 3-0, and Fife, 3-1, to earn fourth place last season.
The Tigers open play in the 16-team 2A state tournament at 8 a.m. today against Olympic of Silverdale. A victory sends them to this afternoon’s quarterfinals against the Black Hills-Pullman winner.
“This is the ride of our lives,” Mataya said. “This didn’t happen overnight.”
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com www.theolympian.com/southsoundsports
CLASS 4A STATE VOLLEYBALL
Today’s opening-round matches
11:45 a.m.: Newport v. Olympia
1:30 p.m.: Tahoma v. Mead
1:30 p.m.: Central Valley v. Puyallup
1:30 p.m.: Rogers v. Jackson
3:15 p.m.: Kamiak v. Kentwood
3:15 p.m.: Kent-Meridian v. Woodinville
3:15 p.m.: Curtis v. Wenatchee
5:15 p.m.: Skyline v. Bellarmine Prep
CLASS 3A STATE VOLLEYBALL
Today’s opening-round matches
8 a.m.: Enumclaw v. Eastside Catholic
8 a.m.: Kennewick v. Camas
8 a.m.: Capital v. Mount Spokane
9:45 a.m.: Mount Si v. Meadowdale
9:45 a.m.: Bainbridge v. Prairie
9:45 a.m.: Timberline v. Seattle Prep
11:45 a.m.: Glacier Peak v. Auburn Mountainview
11:45 a.m.: Mercer Island v. West Valley (Yakima)
CLASS 2A STATE VOLLEYBALL
Today’s opening-round matchups
8 a.m.: Black Hills v. Pullman
8 a.m.: Olympic v. Burlington-Edison
9:45 a.m.: East Valley (Yakima) v. North Kitsap
9:45 a.m.: Archbishop Murphy v. White River
11:45 a.m.: Ephrata v. Port Angeles
11:45 a.m.: Sehome v. Tumwater
1:30 p.m.: Centralia v. Anacortes
1:30 p.m.: Interlake v. Sehome
CLASS 2B STATE VOLLEYBALL
At Yakima SunDome
Today’s local matchup
1:30 p.m.: Northwest Christian v. Brewster
Meg Wochnick, staff writer
