Mead Has Regional Setback

Prep volleyball

The queens of the court had their rule challenged by a Prince.

Victoria Prince, who will sign Monday to play at Washington State University, totaled 15 kills Friday night to power Kamiakin to a 15-6, 15-12 win over Mead to open the Region IV 4A volleyball tournament at Mt. Spokane High.

Since last November, in succession, Mead had claimed championships in the regional tournament, state tournament, Greater Spokane League regular season, and district tournament. Now the defending state champs are one loss away from ending their season.

Kamiakin and GSL schools Gonzaga Prep, Lewis and Clark, and Mt. Spokane are one victory away from qualifying for the state tournament. All opened the regional with wins - G-Prep while playing at Mt. Spokane, and LC and Mt. Spokane while playing at Mead.

G-Prep and Mt. Spokane have never qualified for state.

This morning’s semifinals, at Mt. Spokane, pit Kamiakin vs. G-Prep at 10, and LC vs. Mt. Spokane at 11:30. G-Prep beat Kamiakin 2-0 at last month’s Crossover Classic.

Loser-out matches, at Mead, are Walla Walla vs. Wenatchee at 10, and Mead vs. Eisenhower at 11:30.

By this afternoon, four teams will have qualified for next weekend’s state tournament at the Arena.

Prince, a 6-foot middle blocker with a powerful attack, also threw off Mead with her tricky jump serves. The Panthers struggled with their passing from the back row for much of the 1-hour match.

“We’re a strong serving team,” Prince said. “Once we saw that they were having trouble with our serves, we took advantage of that.”

Kamiakin entered as a No. 4 seed from district, but the Braves were the Big Nine Conference champs.

“At district, I was just like chin to the floor,” said Braves coach Mary Opitz. “I had no idea what was going on with the girls. But they showed great heart by coming back here.”

Rayechel Treece, 11 for 11 on the night, served seven consecutive points during a 12-0 blitz as the Braves took a 13-2 first-game lead. Mead’s typical power game made an appearance through the first half of the second game. But Prince had back-to-back kills to erase the Panthers’ 6-3 edge, then added a kill and a block during a 5-0 spree that gave the Braves a 13-8 lead.

“Mead has some really good players I’ve seen during club ball,” Prince said. “But we have a statecaliber team.”

“There are several ways to get through (to state),” said Mead coach Judy Kight. “We just have to get there another way.”

G-Prep, in its first regional since 1995, showed early jitters in falling behind Ike 6-3. First-year coach Dana Parnell took a timeout, and Prep outscored the Cadets 27-9 the rest of the night to win 15-10, 15-5.

“After we won the first game, even with all the service errors we had, I was confident things would play to our advantage,” Parnell said.

At Mead, Stefanie Yep had 12 digs and three blocks, and Meghan Sanborn added eight kills as LC topped Walla Walla 15-5, 15-13.

Crystal Cavanaugh had seven blocks and Holly Coleman served the last two points as Mt. Spokane rallied from 9-5 and 14-12 third-game deficits to edge Wenatchee 3-15, 15-5, 16-14.