State volleyball preview: Class 3A team-by-team outlook

Here are the team-by-team outlooks for this weekend’s 3A state volleyball tournament at Saint Martin's University and Timberline High School in Lacey.
Up next: Class 4A

CLASS 3A (Bracket)
When: Friday and Saturday
Where: Saint Martin's University and Timberline High School, Lacey
Friday's first-round matches
8 a.m. -- Auburn Mountainview (14-5) v. Stanwood (12-5)
8 a.m. – Prairie (16-2) v. Mercer Island (21-0)
8 a.m. -- Holy Names (11-10) v. Bonney Lake (12-3)
9:45 a.m. -- Lakeside of Seattle (12-11) v. Mount Spokane (14-2)
9:45 a.m. -- Glacier Peak (12-6) v. Mount Si (16-4)
9:45 a.m. – Timberline (16-3) v. Southridge (15-6)
11:45 a.m. -- North Thurston (14-4) v. Shorewood (13-3)
11:45 a.m. -- Columbia River (13-6) v. Seattle Prep (17-4)
Team that will travel the furthest distance: Mount Spokane (328.3 miles)
Team that will travel the shortest distance: North Thurston (1.8 miles)

FAVORITES
Mercer Island Islanders
Coach: Susan McKay
How they qualified: Won District 2 tournament
Last state appearance: 2011; did not place
Key players: OH Sarah Lindquist, sr.; OPP/MH Kris Brackmann, sr.; MH Lottie MacAulay, sr.
Notable: The Islanders spent two weeks in October atop the statewide rankings. Ten of the 14 players are seniors, and Islanders have a big advantage height-wise; five players stand 5-foot-10 or taller (three taller than 6 feet). The Islanders won the District 2 tournament, topping Mount Si in five sets in the title match.

Mount Si Wildcats
Coach: Bonnie Foote
How they qualified: Placed second at District 2 tournament
Last state appearance: 2011; sixth place
Key players: OH Lyndsay Carr, jr.; S Lauren Smith, sr.; L Gen Knoppi, sr.
Notable: Carr, at 6-2, has been labeled as one of the top players in the Class of 2014. She had a record-breaking quarterfinal match of the Sea-King tournament against Eastside Catholic, erupting for a school-record 37 kills. It’s the second time this season she’s broken the single-match school record for kills; she had 35 in a match in September.

CONTENDERS
Seattle Prep Panthers
Coach: Marcene Sullivan
How they qualified: Placed third at Sea-King district tournament
Last state appearance: 2011; third place
Key players: MH Maddi Holman, sr.; OH Madison Burnett, jr.; S Katie Bubar, soph.
Notable: The Panthers were Metro League champions for a second year in a row. Sullivan, is in her second season back with the Panthers after coaching the program for three seasons in the mid-1990s. The Panthers narrowly earn a state berth after needing five sets to eliminate Eastside Catholic in a winner-to-state, loser-out match at districts.

Mount Spokane Wildcats
Coach: Dave Whitehead
How they qualified: Won 3A East regional tournament
Last state appearance: 2011; did not place
Key players: OH Kennadie Clute, sr.; S Paiton Larson, jr.; MH Brooke Reilly, sr.
Notable: Few teams have been able to shut down Clute, a 6-footer who is bound for Montana State. Since the program’s first state berth in 2006, it has earn four straight state trophies (seventh, second, fourth, fourth).

Prairie Falcons
Coach: Andrea Doerfler
How they qualified: Placed fifth at West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament
Last state appearance: 2011; fifth place
Key players: S Tori Porter, sr.; MH Karlee Lubenow, sr.; OH Kaylee Warren, jr.
Notable: One bad weekend doesn’t discount what Prairie has done all season. The Falcons are big at the net with four players being 5-foot-10 or taller, but the range in heights of the entire roster range from 6-2 (Kaitlyn Sitton) and 4-11 (Malea Doerfler).

MIGHT SURPRISE
Columbia River Chieftains
Coach: Moe Melhart
How they qualified: Won West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament
Last state appearance: 2009; did not place
Key players: S Morgan Ambrose, sr.; MH Kathrine Kofoed, sr.; OH Evi Wilson, fr.
Notable: The Chieftains have flown under the radar, but played their best volleyball at last weekend’s district tournament. The team didn’t drop a set. The team isn’t the tallest, but they utilize their strength, which is speed. Their only losses have come against GSHL 3A champion Prairie.

Timberline Blazers
Coach: Krista Manke
How they qualified: Placed fourth at West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament
Last state appearance: 2011; eighth place
Key players: MH Riley Podowicz, jr.; S Hunter Manke, jr.; OH Nicole Pittelkau, sr.
Notable: The Blazers are on the rise at the state ranks. Last year was the program’s first-ever state trophy and this year is the team’s fifth straight state berth. Timberline, the 3A Narrows League regular-season champions, are experienced in five-set matches, winning four of the six it has played in.

Shorewood Thunderbirds
Coach: Jennifer Chartrand
How they qualified: Won at District 1 tournament
Last state appearance: 1998; did not place
Key players: OH Monica Postor, sr.; S Marianne Kellogg, sr.; OH Delaney Hopen, fr.
Notable: Postor might be small in frame -- at 5-foot-5 -- but the senior has come through with big kill numbers all season. In a five-set win over Meadowdale to clinch the 3A Westco South title, Postor had a match-high 22 kills and 35 digs. The T-birds won all three of their district matches last week in three-set sweeps.

Auburn Mountainview Lions
Coach: Nicole Claudon
How they qualified: Placed third at West Central/Southwest bi-district touranment
Last state appearance: 2011; did not place
Key players: OH Molly Chichosz, sr.; L Savanna Cappa, jr.; MH Maya Williamson, jr.
Notable: At 6-feet-1 and 6-0, respectively, Chichosz and Williamson are the Lions’ top two kills leaders. The high school opened in 2005, and the volleyball program has earned six consecutive state berths, but has yet to bring home a state trophy (4-12 all-time in state matches).

Bonney Lake Panthers
Coach: Shirley Baker
How they qualified: Placed second at West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament
Last state appearance: none
Key players: OH Taylor Moss, sr.; S Ashtyn Bagby, jr.; L Dana Alderson, sr.
Notable: This is the Panthers’ first state appearance in the school’s brief seven-year history, and got a big boost when it defeated Prairie, a former No. 1-ranked team in the statewide coaches poll, in five sets to advance to the district tournament last weekend. Five-foot-7 is the average height of a Bonney Lake player.

North Thurston Rams
Coach: Micah McBride
How they qualified: Placed sixth at West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament
Last state appearance: 1995 (Class 4A); did not place
Key players: OH Brittany Rutherford, sr.; MH Jessica Malchow, sr.; S Megan Kramer, jr.
Notable: North Thurston’s snapped a 17-year state draught, but the Rams will have the shortest commute time to this year’s tournament; North Thurston High School is just 1.8 miles from Saint Martin’s. All of the Rams’ five-set matches this season have come against Lacey rival Timberline; the Rams were 1-3 in those matches.

LONGSHOTS
Glacier Peak Grizzlies
Coach: Chris Pratt
How they qualified: Place third at District 1 tournament
Last state appearance: 2011; did not place
Key players: OH Ruby Mensing, sr.; OH Maddi Ober, sr.; S McKenzie Wilkinson, jr.
Notable: What a way the Grizzlies earned their second straight state berth -- surviving two loser-out matches in the district tournament to defeat Everett in five sets for the second time in five days. Wilkinson had 50 assists and 24 digs in that match.

Lakeside (Seattle) Lions
Coach: Katie Wilson
How they qualified: Placed fifth at Sea-King District tournament
Last state appearance: 1986; did not place
Key players: S Devin Callahan, soph.; OH/MH Jennie Glerum; OH Kaylee Best, sr.
Notable: Twenty-six years was the last time Lakeside played state tournament volleyball, but the Lions got to Lacey by defeating Bainbridge, 3-0, in a winner-to-state, loser-out match after upsetting Metro League champion earlier in tournament. Its two third-place state trophies came from the 1970s.

Holy Names Academy Cougars
Coach: Brian Richards
How they qualified: Placed fourth at SeaKing district tournament
Last state appearance: 2010; did not place
Key players: MH Erica Ciez, sr.; OH Courtney Pharr, sr.; OPP Kaki Hall, sr.
Notable: At one time this season, the Cougars were the top-ranked team in 3A. The team hit a rough patch, losing six of seven matches. The Cougars got a state berth after defeating Bellevue and Lakeside.

Southridge Suns
Coach: John Lengphounpraseut
How they qualified: Placed second at 3A East regional
Last state appearance: 2009 (Class 4A); did not place
Key players: OH Emma Spurlock, jr.; MH Kimberly Brinkworth, jr.; S Kylie Fraga, jr.
Notable: Teams might have trouble finding holes when hitting up against Brinkworth, who tallied 10 blocks in a three-set win over Kamiakin, the top seed from the Mid-Columbia Conference to keep the Braves from making state. This is the program’s third-ever state berth -- all coming since 2006.

Stanwood Spartans
Coach: Erik Titus
How they qualified: Placed second at District 1 tournament
Last state appearance: 2005 (Class 4A); did not place
Key players: OH Natalia Sulantay, sr.; S Katilyn Noonchester, sr.; S Marissa Hansen, sr.
Notable: In the Spartans’ seven previous state appearances, the program’s only trophy came in 1992 (sixth place). Stanwood has a 5-19 all-time mark in those seven state appearances.

-- By Meg Wochnick, staff writer