Capital volleyball back in the semifinals after win over defending champion Lakeside
KENNEWICK – There are no more tomorrows.
Not for the six seniors on the Capital High School volleyball team. Not after Saturday.
“This is our last chance,” said setter Tia Grow, one of those seniors.
And the top-ranked Cougars are making the most if it in the Class 3A state tournament at the Toyota Center.
Capital (26-3, including two losses to 4A teams in the Kent Classic) is back in the semifinals for the second straight year — and the Cougars got there by eliminating the team that beat them there last year, Lakeside of Seattle, which went on to win the title.
After splitting the first two sets, Capital turned up the heat and swept the final two, 27-25, 25-15.
While coach Katie Turcotte stressed the team’s focus is staying in the moment, and not looking ahead, or back, she admitted the victory was extra special because it avenged last year’s 3-0 loss.
“Of course, it was a little extra sweet to be able to beat them tonight,” she said. “But it’s a testament to my players just staying confident and staying one play at a time and staying focused on the job at hand.”
Capital, which placed fourth last season, will play Eastside Catholic (17-4) Saturday at 1 p.m. The championship match is at 7 p.m.
The Cougars opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over No. 9 Snohomish. After taking the first set, 25-20, they dropped the second, 30-28, and clearly weren’t happy about it — sweeping the next two by identical 25-13 scores.
Three players hit double-digits in kills in that match — Maia Nichols (14), Devy Oestreich (11) and Madison Nichols (10). Grow handed out 17 assists and had 15 digs.
North Thurston 3, Roosevelt 2: The Rams battled back-and-forth for five sets, eventually eliminating the No. 8 Rough Riders (30-28, 10-25, 25-20, 26-28, 18-16) in a consolation game, and kept their season going.
North Thurston (11-9) plays 3A South Sound Conference rival No. 6 Gig Harbor (16-4) in a loser-out game at 9 a.m. The Tides won all three regular-season meetings between the two programs.
The winner of that match moves on to the seventh-eighth place match at 3 p.m., and is guaranteed a trophy.
The Rams lost in the first round to No. 3 Mt. Spokane in straight sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-17).
Timberline 3, Stadium 1: The Blazers kept their season alive rallying for wins in three straight sets (14-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23), after dropping the opening set to the Tigers.
Timberline (13-7) plays Snohomish (15-5) in a loser-out game at 9 a.m. The winner of that match moves on to the seventh-eighth place match later in the afternoon, and is guaranteed a trophy.
The Blazers nearly advanced to the quarterfinals in the opening round, rallying two win two sets after falling into an 0-2 deficit against No. 9 Eastside Catholic. The Crusaders won the decisive fifth set to advance (25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 21-25, 15-8).
CLASS 2A
No. 5 North Kitsap 3, No. 3 Tumwater 0: There won’t be a repeat state champion in the Class 2A state volleyball tournament at Saint Martin’s University this weekend.
Defending champion Tumwater, which won the title two of the past three seasons, was eliminated Friday afternoon after losing in straight sets to the Vikings (25-21, 26-24, 24-14).
“It's upsetting,” said senior Kennedy Croft, who signed to play at Gonzaga earlier this week. “We didn't want to end senior year on a loss.”
Croft, usually a dominating outside hitter, played libero during much of the postseason due to a recurring injury. She ends her career at Tumwater with program records for kills in a match (42), kills in a season (404) and aces in a season (46).
The three-time 2A Evergreen Conference MVP and three-time Olympian All-Area selection led Tumwater to titles her freshman and junior seasons, but the T-Birds fell into a hole early Friday ending Croft’s hope of winning a third.
In the opening round, Pullman won straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-20) to send the T-Birds (15-5) to the consolation bracket.
Croft recorded 20 digs in her limited role, and managed five kills from the back row, while junior Savannah Sleasman added 22 kills and junior Sophie Koelsch had 28 assists.
“This group has no quit in them, so right up until the final point I had hope,” Tumwater coach Tana Otton said. “These guys have overcome a lot of different stuff at the end of the season, but we struggled with defense and passing, so we couldn't get our offense going at all.”
Liberty of Issaquah 3, Black Hills 1: The Patriots ended the Wolves’ seasons in four sets (25-21, 20-25, 26-24, 25-22).
In the first round, Black Hills (12-7) led early in each set but fell to No. 1 White River in straight sets (25-21, 25-14, 25-16).
Four seniors paced the Hornets. Outside hitter Keegan Strobeck fueled White River’s attack with 16 kills, while Hannah Nelson added 13. Hope Baldyga had 33 assists, and libero Megan Vanderdrift added 20 digs.
Contributing writer Dave Weber contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 11, 2017 at 12:08 AM with the headline "Capital volleyball back in the semifinals after win over defending champion Lakeside."