Notebook: ‘Perfect-10’ week for Doering clan

St. John-Endicott volleyball coach Megan Doering was asked what she thought was more exciting last week for her mother and Colfax volleyball icon Sue:

That Sue won her 10th state championship in the 2B tournament in Yakima?

That she was inducted by her peers into the Washington State Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame?

That she got to watch her daughter, at age 26, coach the Eagles to the 1B state title?

Or was it the thrill on Tuesday prior to state of knowing that Megan, in front of her team following practice, accepted a proposal of marriage from fiancé Mike Dorman?

“It was overall a good week for us,” Megan said. “I think the engagement got to her, too.”

“It was like a perfect 10 week,” said Sue. “Early in the week I knew Mike was going to ask her. I felt if we got by LaConner we had a shot at the championship and I thought Megan had a shot just because the last two years the winner of their league won state.”

Everything aligned.

That the Bulldogs won state was old hat. This is their eighth title in 10 years, the last two at 2B. All the others of her double-digit titles came in the 1A classification.

When Kayla Johnson was shifted to middle blocker from outside as a necessity due to illness, Colfax became unbeatable. At state, Sue Doering said, she never had to call one timeout as her team swept four matches in straight sets, including over Bi-County rival Northwest Christian for the championship.

Megan, a Bulldog from 1997-2000, played for her mother. She played at Pacific Lutheran University for two years, became a high school assistant coach and taught for a year in China before taking a job teaching kindergarten at Endicott.

This is her third year as head coach. She said she’s adopted drills from elsewhere, but much of her style comes from her mother – although she’s perhaps quieter, Sue said.

“We could come home and talk about practice and games,” Megan said. “I’ve always had a little more of a coach’s mind.”

The first year at St. John-Endicott, she said, was rough because she had to focus solely on basics.

“I could see the potential which made it a little frustrating,” Megan said. “Mom told me to have more patience.”

The Eagles were fifth last year and won it all last weekend. She said it hasn’t sunk in coming as it did on the heels of her fiance’s elaborate scheme, complete with signs held up by players and his on-the-knee proposal. Everybody knew it was coming but her.

Her first title came sooner than her mom’s. She isn’t trying to match her mom, merely wants to be known as her own person. “Maybe when I’m married and am Megan Dorman,” she said.

Mom, euphoric on the phone Monday, said it’s unlikely a mother and daughter had ever coached state champions in the same gym at the same time.

“It was a pretty exciting week,” Sue said. “I’ll be smiling for a while on this one.”

Hometown team the rival

The memories flowed when West Valley football coach Craig Whitney scouted this week’s State 2A opponent Othello.

When asked what he knew about Othello, he said, “I know it’s my home town, it’s where I went to school and grew up.”

Whitney is a 1987 Huskies graduate. So after a homecoming reconnecting with friends and teachers he hadn’t seen in years, it was back to reality. His alma mater is now the foe.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge,” said Whitney. “They’re as good as anybody in state and play in a very good conference.”

What a weekend

Heather Jackson faced the task of replacing a three-time finalist coach at defending state volleyball champion Lewis and Clark. Complicating matters was the graduation of three stars.

By postseason it was business as usual for the Tigers, whose nine returnees secured their fifth straight top-five state trophy. After losing to eventual second-place Curtis in the second round, they won twice to finish fourth.

The grand effort got lost a bit in the accomplishments of others in Kennewick during the weekend.

“Our great league prepares us well for postseason,” said Jackson. “The girls got smarter, tougher and more determined. They came together at the right time.”

That included reaching the finals of district and regional and winning three of four state contests. The loss to Curtis – which had Mead on the ropes in the finals – came following a first-game win.

“We awoke a sleeping giant,” said Jackson. “There were no holes in their defense and they had a dynamic offense. I think they found another gear.”

LC bounced back against Kentwood, and after waiting around all day Friday beat Olympia, both times rallying from a one-game deficit.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Jackson, a longtime assistant in the program. “The players make (coaching) so rewarding.”

Mead won State 4A for the sixth time in seven years (seventh overall title for Judy Kight, who has surpassed 500 wins in a storied career) and Mt. Spokane made the 3A finals, second place its highest finish ever.

Pullman captured the 2A title with West Valley seventh and Colville eighth out of the Great Northern League.

All-Tournament selections were: Alexis Olgard, Mead (MVP); Janele Vogt, LC; Kaely Kight, Mead; Emma Barrington, Mead; Annie Arnzen, Mt. Spokane; Shelby Cheslek, Pullman (MVP); Stephanie Logan, Pullman; Katie Guettinger, Pullman.

In Yakima, Northeast A teams Freeman and Lakeside placed seventh and eighth.