Andersen lifts Shadle over U-Hi

Maybe it was the peanut butter and chocolate PowerBar she ate before the volleyball match. More likely it was the energy she fed off of from her teammates.

Whatever the reason, Stacy Andersen’s adrenaline surge sparked Shadle Park to a four-game victory over University and kept it tied for third place with Mt. Spokane in the Greater Spokane League, one win away from clinching a playoff berth.

In a match of fast starts and fast finishes, Shadle (8-3) lost the first game to the visiting Titans 25-20. But with solid back-row defense and a go-to-Andersen tendency at crunch time, Shadle won the next three, 25-15, 25-20, 25-23.

U-Hi (7-4) is tied for fifth with Gonzaga Prep.

“The biggest thing was we did some dump sets, and it seemed to freeze their middle blockers,” said Highlanders coach Brooke Cooper. “That opened it for Stacy on the outside. She was a big senior for us tonight.”

Andersen finished with a season-high 16 kills, including four down the stretch of the third game when Shadle, with the match tied at a game apiece, broke a 17-all tie and ran off eight points to U-Hi’s three.

She scored the match-deciding point in the fourth game with a dump shot that stemmed a Titans rally from a 24-20 match-point deficit.

“I feed off the energy of the whole team,” Andersen said. “I pretty much live for adrenaline, and they pump me up so much.”

Andersen certainly wasn’t a one-woman show. Renee Before had a dozen blocks and several kills, and Brynn Delong added a dozen kills during the victory.

The victory continued the season turnaround for the Highlanders, who last year in a rare occurrence missed out on the district playoffs.

The seniors waited since then for a shot at redemption, said Cooper, who had coached the players since grade school.

“Last year we didn’t have the connection we have this year,” Andersen added. “We believe in each other and want to get third in the GSL so we can get a good place in the playoffs.”

In the first game U-Hi jumped to a 5-0 lead before Shadle tied it at 7. The teams traded points right up to a 19-all deadlock.

The Titans were paced by Ashlee Lupfer and Ashlee Valkenaar, who combined for 12 kills in the game. Lupfer fueled a 6-1 finish with four hits. She finished the night with 15 kills, and Valkenaar wound up with 11.

“We always seem to start slow,” Cooper said. “It’s killing me.”

In the second game, Shadle broke a 3-all tie to lead 9-4, then finished off the game with a late seven-point run that included two kills each by Andersen and Before.

The third game was similar after Shadle trailed early 4-1. The team built an 11-5 lead behind Delong before Titans sophomore Eileen Chatfield clogged the middle and delivered some key hits to help forge the tie that Andersen broke.

The deciding game was close until the Highlanders went from a 9-8 lead to 16-12, again on two kills apiece by Andersen and Before.

They held on despite two U-Hi rallies that cut Shadle’s lead to a point and 19-18 and again to 24-23.

Andersen’s game-winning dump shot was an example of the strategy Shadle employed against its opponent.

Cooper said it turned out they were able to score most of their points when Lupfer was in the back row and setter Kara Crisp was in the front.

“We wanted to make sure we knew where Kara played because they have a different defense when she’s in the back row,” Cooper said. “When she was in the back row she took care of the middle. When she was in the front, the middle was where they were more vulnerable.”

It helped open up Andersen for her big night at outside hitter and produced a big win during the GSL’s only contests this week. Every league team except G-Prep will participate in this weekend’s 12th Crossover Classic tournament in Spokane.

In other league contests, Mt. Spokane (8-3) remained tied with the Highlanders with its 25-18, 25-18, 16-25, 25-16 win at East Valley (3-8). Lauren Schneidmiller led the team with 14 kills and Erica Ziegler had 32 assists. Rachel Bonertz had 11 kills and three blocks for the Knights. … North Central (5-6) closed in on top 3A district seed with a 25-14, 25-12, 25-13 home win over West Valley (3-8). Anna Walters led the team in kills and tied Whitney Buck with four service aces apiece. Kellie Dickinson had 10 digs….Unbeaten Mead (11-0) swept G-Prep (7-4) 25-16, 25-14, 29-27 on senior night at Prep. Mead had 13 blocks, three by Megan Thigpen, who shared the match kills lead with Cassie Dobson and G-Prep’s Leslie Whigham. Mead’s Amy Herron had 25 assists and three service aces. … Lewis and Clark (10-1) is a win away from earning second place outright after beating South Hill rival Ferris (6-5) 25-13, 25-16, 22-25, 25-14. LC’s Allison Moran had 35 assists. LC’s Ivy Bush and Maddy Lorenz of Ferris each had 14 kills. Lorenz also had 15 digs and three blocks. … Central Valley (6-5) won at Cheney (1-10) 25-14, 25-19, 25-14. Allison Guisti had 13 digs and Samantha Kern 29 assists for CV. Breanna Falor led Cheney in kills, digs and blocks. … Clarkston (1-10) won for the first time, 25-20, 14-25, 25-14, 25-22 over visiting Rogers (1-10). Jaimie Berghammer had 11 kills and Clarkston had three successive aces in game four. Britanni Scott led Rogers in kills, digs and blocks.