Mead Overpowers Competition Panthers’ Dominate Pool From Beginning To End

Three teams escaped Friday’s pool play with 3-0 records at the State 4A volleyball tournament.

But there were 3-0 records, and then there was Mead’s 3-0 record.

Mead was the only team to sweep its three matches at the Arena. The Panthers allowed just 23 points all day, and had shutouts against Bethel and Bothell.

“Those are the first two 15-0’s we’ve had all year long,” said Mead coach Judy Kight. “Who would think they’d come at the state tournament?”

How dominant was Mead? Bethel scored just six points off the Panthers yet advanced out of pool play with a 2-1 record.

Puyallup and Auburn joined Mead with 3-0 records. Yet Puyallup lost its first game of the day, 15-12 to Shorecrest, and Auburn dropped a middle game to Kamiak despite winning the others 15-2 and 15-0. Shorecrest and Kamiak both finished the day 0-3.

“We just weren’t passing very well in our first game,” said Puyallup coach Tony Batinovich. “Once we started blocking well, it turned around for us.”

The day belonged to Region IV, comprised of the Greater Spokane League and Big Nine Conference, and Puyallup and Auburn’s District 3/4. All eight teams that qualified for today’s quarterfinals came from those areas.

Shadle Park won its pool but ended the day on a low note. The Highlanders won their first two matches and stomped Woodinville 15-1 in the first game of their final match. But Woodinville rallied to win the match with 15-13 and 16-14 decisions.

Shadle coach Brooke Cooper was disgruntled after the final-match loss, but said, “If we want to be in the championship match, we have to do it now.”

Today’s 10 a.m. quarterfinals are near rematches of last weekend’s regional tournaments. The matchups are Bethel vs. Auburn; Capital vs. Puyallup; Lewis and Clark vs. Mead; and Eisenhower vs. Shadle.

LC advanced No. 2 out of Puyallup’s pool. The Tigers defeated Shorecrest 15-9, 12-15, 15-5 at night to qualify.

LC and Mead also played for last week’s Region IV title, won by Mead 15-2, 15-6.

Mead has come a long way after finishing third in the GSL and No. 3 at the District 8 tournament. The Panthers’ motivator has been last season, when they fell shy of a state berth.

“Last year we stumbled at regional and it hurt bad,” Kight said. “The kids worked hard all year to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.”

The quarterfinalists are an interesting mixture. Mead and Puyallup have never played in the title match. Five-time champion Shadle Park, Lewis and Clark, Bethel and Eisenhower have nine titles among them.

Capital is just up from the 3A ranks.

And then there’s Auburn. The Trojans have placed eight times since 1987, including four runner-up finishes.

“The long-term goal of this team was to get here and go 3-0,” said Auburn coach Nancy Zehnder. “Now we want to reach our short-term goal.”

Mead’s Andrea Rose had 16 blocks on the day and averaged about seven kills. Lindsay Murphy and Kari Vagstad added five kills apiece in the final-match win over Olympia.

Katie Schurra and Krissy Forry combined for 84 kills during Shadle’s matches.

LC’s Amy Kauppila had 30 kills on the day and averaged about eight digs. Meghan Sanborn added 13 digs in the crucial win over Shorecrest.

Today’s semifinals are at 11:30 a.m. Placing matches begin at 4:30 p.m., culminating in the title match at 9.