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

Bears claim first trophy for volleyball

Finish eighth as state tournament concludes

LACEY, Wash. – Central Valley scratched off the last goal on its wish list Saturday night.

The Bears earned the first State 4A volleyball trophy in school history by finishing eighth to wrap up the two-day event at Saint Martin’s University.

CV (28-3-1) dropped its final match, 3-1 to seventh-place Gig Harbor, but that didn’t tarnish the accomplishment.

“We set season goals and we hit every one of them,” Bears coach Amanda Bailey said. “We wanted to get in the top eight in state, we wanted to win our district, we wanted to win the GSL and we wanted to win the Flying Cow (rivalry game with University). They should be really proud of their overall season.”

CV appeared ready to force a fifth game against the Tides, leading the fourth 14-9 after winning the third 25-20 behind Keann White’s four kills down the stretch. But Gig Harbor scored 11 of the next 13 points and never let the Bears rally.

“We were able to get back into rhythm (in the third game) and play our game a little bit more, but I think we just ran out of steam,” Bailey said.

White, a junior, led the way with 17 kills and four blocks.

The Bears will lose four seniors: Kara Nitteberg, Sasha Montgomery, Kazlyn Roullier and Madison Hovren. All were starters except Hovren, but CV is well-stocked for the future.

“We have a lot of depth and … it’s going to be their time next year, so hopefully they’ll be ready,” Bailey said.

University (28-5) ended its season in the early afternoon with a 3-1 loss to Camas. The Titans won the first game 25-21 by scoring the last three points, including kills by Daryn Griffith and Sydney Schlect.

Camas zipped ahead 7-0 in the second game and broke from an 11-all tie in the third game with a 9-1 run. The Papermakers also had a 9-1 run to end the match, including the last six points.

“Kind of some things that we’ve had trouble with throughout the course of the season, just kind of the consistency factor,” Titans coach Mike Summers said. “Camas is a great team. They have some good hitters … we just kind of lost track of their hitters at times and they figured it out.”

It was the final match for seniors Sarah Carpenter, Schlect, Brooklynn Tacke, Alex Douglas and Jacey Schuh. Carpenter had 17 assists, 11 digs and two aces; Tacke nine kills and three blocks; Douglas 11 assists; and Schlect seven kills and two aces.

U-Hi went 0-2 at the State 3A tournament last season.

“It was an improvement from last year,” Summers said. “It takes work to get here and the girls did a good job making it here. We won that first match, so it’s something to build on for the future.”

CV began its day with a 3-1 afternoon win over Skyline, rallying to win the first two games and losing the third after storming to a 7-0 lead. The Bears ended the 26-24 first game with a 9-2 run and took the second game 25-22 with a 6-1 finish.

White had 14 kills, Nitteberg 21 digs and Hannah Reiman six blocks against Skyline.