Black Hills, Tumwater advance

PREP HIGHLIGHTS: They will be in district volleyball semis on Saturday at Tumwater

The Olympian | • Published November 06, 2009

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TUMWATER - There are often assumptions about the district pigtail winner when Class 2A District IV volleyball tournaments start.

Just two nights after R.A. Long outlasted Hoquiam in the play-in game just to make the district tournament, the Lumberjacks had the tough task of tackling top-seeded Black Hills in an opening-round game on Thursday night.

Black Hills coach Kara Peterson was quick to point out that R.A. Long wasn’t a typical play-in foe.

“They’ve been a solid program in the past,” Peterson said. “They’re a well-coached team and they’re at districts year after year.”

The Wolves made it a quick match, however, sweeping the Lumberjacks, 25-14, 25-13 and 25-21, to advance to a semifinal match against Hockinson at 11 a.m. Saturday at Tumwater High School.

Hockinson surprisingly swept third-seeded Centralia to advance, and Centralia later lost a five-set match to RA Long to end its season. No information was reported on River Ridge's loser-out match against Ridgefield.

Tumwater (14-1) swept Ridgefield, 25-16, 25-15, 25-22, to reach Saturday’s other semifinal match against Mark Morris, the No. 1 seed from the 2A Greater St. Helens League, also at 11 a.m. Both of Saturday’s semifinal matches are winner-to-state. The semifinal winners will play at 3 p.m. Saturday for seeding to state.

“It was a great start to district,” Tumwater coach Tana Croft said.

Tumwater had solid all-around play from numerous players, including Sara Cearley (seven kills, 16 assists, 18-for-18 serving, 12 digs), Katrina McClaflin (27 digs, five kills), Cara Olden (eight kills) and Gabby Johnson (four blocks).

Black Hills (14-1) entered the tournament as the league’s No. 1 seed after sharing the Class 2A Evergreen Conference title with Tumwater. Black Hills defeated Tumwater, 3-1, on Oct. 29 to earn the higher seed into district based on head-to-head match scores.

Middle hitter Kailah Lenz, who was named the Class 2A Evergreen Conference’s MVP earlier this week, had a match-high 17 kills and five blocks for Black Hills, and setter Taylor Aschenbrenner had 32 assists and was 11-for-11 serving. Hillary Lutz was 18-for-18 serving with one ace and six kills, and Rachel Warick had nine kills and was 17-for-19 serving.

“They were a stronger team than we anticipated,” Peterson said. “The first game, they played pretty good defense and were with us until 14 (points).”

Girls soccer

Hockinson 3, Tumwater 1: The host Hawks of Hockinson scored three second-half goals to earn the 2A District IV’s No. 1 seed into next week’s state tournament. Tumwater, as the No. 2 seed, will host a first-round game on Tuesday.

Tumwater freshman Abbey Bergquist put her team up 1-0 in the 41st minute. Tumwater coach Stephanie O’Neill said Hockinson changed its formation, and her team didn’t adjust well to that.

“We didn’t play tight defense and gave them too much space,” O’Neill said.

Football

Napavine 49, Northwest Christian 0: The Navigators finished their 2009 season with a one-win improvement from last season, going 3-7. Because of blustery, wet conditions, a running clock was used in the second half. Also, a power outage delayed the start.

Steven Dunn had a team-best 45 yards rushing and finished the season with slightly more than 1,500 yards, Northwest Christian coach Pete Fulton said.