Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

ACH State 1B champion

Dave Thomas Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA – Quiet confidence turned into one loud statement from Almira/Coulee-Hartline.

After reaching the State 1B volleyball championship match, the Warriors certainly believed they could beat top-ranked Christian Faith.

But Friday night in the SunDome, ACH went out and shattered those expectations in a dominating, perfect-storm performance that left even the newly crowned champions wondering where that came from.

“We knew it’d be tough, but also knew we could compete with them,” said Warriors senior middle hitter Nikki Osborne, who had 12 kills and six blocks in the match.

“We showed up and played on a completely different level tonight. That’s the best we’ve ever played. I’m happy it was in the state tournament.”

“It’s still surreal,” said a smiling ACH coach Katie Stephens after the 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 domination of the Eagles. “We sure put it all together at the right moment.”

Quite an understatement.

Taking control from the outset – ACH led 10-3 in the first game, and 19-8 in the second – the Warriors were almost perfect in every aspect of their game, from defense to setting to hitting, to capture their first state volleyball championship.

“We told them, no matter what, play aggressive – and we attacked all night. They never let down,” said Stephens, singling out the play of Osborne, junior setter Madeline Isaak (20 assists, 13 digs) and sophomore outside hitter Brynna Stevens (11 kills).

• In the third-place match, Wilbur-Creston opened with a 2-0 lead and finished off Tekoa-Oakesdale 3-1. The Nighthawks finished sixth.

• After sweeping Pomeroy in straight sets to advance to the consolation finals, Colton went on to beat Klickitat 19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 to earn a fifth-place finish at state. Klickitat, which beat Northport 3-1 to advance to play Colton, finished in eighth place.

1A: La Salle rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Colville 3-2 in the first round of the state tournament at the SunDome. The Indians came one set away from advancing with consecutive 25-16, 25-21 wins in the second and third sets. But they could not close out La Salle, which won the fourth set 25-14, before taking the final game 15-11. Colville will play Ridgefield in the consolation bracket today at 9 a.m. … In other tournament action, King’s swept Newport in straight sets 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 to send the Grizzlies to the consolation bracket. Newport will play Montesano today at 9 a.m.

• 2B: Colfax and Reardan each earned a ticket to the state semifinals with a pair of wins on the opening day of the state tournament at the SunDome. Shaina Simonson tallied 20 kills in two matches as the Bulldogs opened with a sweep of Mt. Vernon Christian before advancing to the semifinals with a 3-1 win against Brewster, led by Nicole Sheer’s 11 kills and four blocks. They will play La Conner today at 10:30 a.m., with a win moving them to the championship match. … Reardan advanced with a pair of straight-set victories, first beating Adna 25-21, 25-11, 25-15 and then Bear Creek 25-18, 25-20, 25-16. The Indians will play Darrington today at 9 a.m. for a spot in the title game. … In other local action, Northwest Christian fell 3-2 to La Conner in the opening round, but stayed alive in the tournament by sweeping Pateros 25-11, 25-14, 25-11. The Crusaders play Mossyrock today at 10:30 a.m. with the winner advancing to play in the the fifth-place match.