Shadle Park heads to state in new class

Shadle Park placed eighth and fifth in state volleyball the past two years. Yet the Highlanders are facing uncharted territory at state this year after dropping from Class 4A to 3A.

“Everything is a little new to me,” coach Brooke Cooper wrote in an e-mail.

State 3A begins this morning and concludes on Friday at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

Rising to the occasion in postseason is old hat for the Highlanders. They graduated half their lineup and were tested in a tough five-team race among Greater Spokane League teams. The end result is the school’s 22nd state trip, albeit in a new classification.

Eastern Washington University-bound setter Lindsay Niemeier got the ball to a diverse front row, including veteran hitters Amy Before, Nikki Urquhart and Sasha Mitchell. Libero Kaylee Rector took care of things in the back.

Shadle weathered a difficult regional by beating East Valley twice, the first after losing the first game and trailing at match point (24-20 and 24-22) in the next two games.

Mt. Spokane, which won two of three matches with Shadle, was regional champion. The Wildcats are making their second straight state appearance. They were 1-2 last year in the school’s first state tournament.

How will the two GSL teams fare?

“I think we have a great shot,” Cooper said. “I know Auburn Mountainview is tough and so is Sumner. We lost to Auburn Mountainview (26-24 in an early tournament) and East Valley went on to beat them in the final.

“We’re better than we were at the beginning of the season.”

State 2A

District 7 champion Pullman and runner-up West Valley are making repeat appearances at the tournament, which begins Friday, also in Kennewick.

Pullman had a tough draw last year, losing to the second- and fourth-place finishers after beating fifth-place Archbishop Murphy. WV placed eighth.