State B Crown Still Fits Martin, Wildcats

Saturday night at the Spokane Arena, after Wilbur-Creston claimed its second straight WIAA U.S. Bank State B volleyball championship, the public address announcer said, “Jessica Martin made it happen.”

Those five words perfectly described Martin’s play as she led the top-ranked Wildcats over the Kalama Chinooks 17-15, 15-13.

The 6-foot Martin, who has already signed a letter of intent to play volleyball next year at Washington State, came through in the clutch, leading the Wildcats back from a 7-0 deficit in the first game and a 9-3 hole in the second.

“It’s unbelievable,” Martin said minutes after the match. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”

In the first game, two kills by Martin and a handful of errors by the Chinooks let the Wildcats tie the game at 9. Wilbur-Creston then pulled ahead, grabbing their biggest lead of the game at 14-12. An ace by Kalama middle blocker Stephanie Trautman and a mishit by the Wildcats tied the game again at 14.

That’s when Martin took over. She had a kill for the sideout and another kill to make it 15-14. Kalama tied the game again at 15, but a tip by Martin gave the sideout back to Wilbur-Creston. A block by Martin on a Lacey Coover kill attempt and a mishit by the Chinooks sealed the first-game victory for the defending champions, who finished the season 31-0.

“(Coach Chuck Wyborney) told us during the timeout we had to get the momentum,” Martin said. “Once we got it, there was no stopping us.”

The second game was nearly identical to first - Martin led the Wildcats back from a big deficit for the win. Trailing 9-3, the Wildcats clawed their way back to tie the game at 9 as Martin had a block and a tip for two points and two kills and another tip for crucial sideouts.

Another kill by Martin and an ace by defensive specialist Stacie Harris gave Wilbur-Creston - which didn’t drop a game in the tournament - a 13-11 lead. But two kills by Coover tied the game at 13. A kill by W-C’s Mindy Bandy made it 14-13 before Coover touched the net to end the match and give the Bi-County League its 16th title in 17 tries, including the last nine.

“Jessica Martin is a girl who plays with a big heart and is extremely smart,” Wyborney said. “These girls are very special.”

The Toutle Lake Fighting Ducks captured third beating the Morton Huskies 15-4, 16-14. In the first game, the Fighting Ducks, who have been the runner-up the last three years, were hitting on all cylinders as they built an 11-4 lead and never looked back. Senior outside hitter Rhonda Cooper stepped in to do the setting for Toutle Lake after it lost starting setter Meghan Perry to an ankle injury against St. John-Endicott on Friday.

“I’ve never set before for this team,” Cooper said. “But we came together and played well because we figured we had nothing to lose.”

In the fifth- and sixth-place match, the Odessa Tigers dropped the Davenport Gorillas 15-5, 15-8. The Tigers used 11 points in a row to break open a 3-2 lead in the first game. The Tigers then closed it out behind the superb play of defensive specialist Marci Smith, who had 19 digs for the match.

“(Smith) is my all-world player,” Odessa coach Ken Scherr said. “She is a passing machine.”

In the battle for seventh, the St. John-Endicott Eagles ripped the Klickitat Vandals as the Eagles front line of Tricia Lamb, Staci Garrett and Andee Schmick controlled the net. The first game featured the excellent blocking of Schmick, combined with the power of Garrett and Lamb, to crush the Vandals 15-0.