No shockers at State B

There would be no first-day upsets at the State B Volleyball Tournament.

Because the first two rounds held true to form, the tournament will feature a couple of monster semifinals at noon today at Eastern Washington University.

Top-ranked and defending champion Riverside Christian will take on No. 2 Garfield-Palouse in a matchup of two undefeated squads, and third-ranked Davenport will play No. 6 Pomeroy.

Gar-Pal (19-0) used a late 13-0 run in the fourth game to win its quarterfinal match against Orcas Island 25-15, 25-15, 20-25, 25-15.

Monica Boone had two kills and two blocks during the Vikings’ decisive run, and Brenda Hershaw added three kills during the spurt.

“We’re capable of those kinds of runs,” Gar-Pal head coach Ron Dinsmoor said. “We’ve done it all season.”

Boone finished with 16 kills and six blocks, and Hershaw ended up with 12 kills and nine digs.

Holli Holbrook added 34 assists for the Vikings.

Dinsmoor said the Vikings needed a big fourth game after a lackadaisical third game, allowing Orcas Island back into the match.

“We were playing against ourselves. We came out flat, won two and got a little fatigued,” Dinsmoor said. “We got to play one more and kind of work it out.”

In the quarterfinals, Riverside Christian knocked off fifth-ranked Almira/Coulee-Hartline 25-13, 25-17, 25-15. Sharelle Wells, the Greater Columbia B player of the year, had 14 kills and nine digs for the Crusaders, and Katie Van Beek added nine kills and 16 digs.

“We started to develop a tempo in this match, which feels good,” Crusaders head coach Mike Hargrave said. “I think Wells is starting to hunt for the ball a little bit. If she gets in a groove, it’s pretty amazing.”

Riverside Christian also got three aces and 15 digs from junior Lexi DiPietro.

“We’re perfectly happy to take what we got today,” Hargrave said. “We’ll try to build on it for tomorrow. It’s been a while since we’ve been pushed defensively. We need to serve well (in the semifinals). Our blocking has to be consistent so we can set our defense behind it. We also have to run our offense the way we know we can.”

Gar-Pal will need its best game against Riverside Christian, which blew through the first two rounds, winning all six games while being rarely tested.

“I’m hoping that if we can pass the ball well, they haven’t seen a team with our kind of offense that can hit at them,” Dinsmoor said. “Hopefully, we’re going to be aggressive. It’s going to take every ounce we’ve got. They’re strong, but they haven’t really been pushed yet. I’m hoping we can come out and maybe disrupt them a little bit.”

On the other side of the bracket, Davenport (20-9) continued to roll, defeating fourth-ranked DeSales in a surprisingly easy three games, 25-13, 27-25, 25-17. The Gorillas have won 13 of their last 14.

The second game proved to be the difference-maker, as Davenport trailed 21-19 before running off four straight to take a 23-21 lead. After two DeSales points to tie, sophomore Traci Linstrum took over, scoring the Gorillas’ last four points on three kills and an ace.

Linstrum finished with 17 kills, and sophomore setter Mallory Mielke had 39 assists and 25 digs.

“We passed better at the end,” Davenport head coach Pete Schweiger said of the second game. “We started attacking more. If you can’t pass, you can’t attack.”

Davenport starts no seniors, but Schweiger hasn’t been worried about his team’s tournament inexperience.

“We really improved throughout the year. We had a lot of early losses where we didn’t have our confidence, and I think they’re really picking up on that.”

Pomeroy ousted 10th-ranked Curlew 25-11, 25-23, 25-20 to meet the Gorillas in the semis.

“I’m real pleased,” Schweiger said. “It’ll be fun. I coached against (Pomeroy head coach) Jim Greene when he was at Reardan. It’ll be just like old times.”

Curlew (18-5) meets DeSales in a loser-out match at 10 a.m. today. The Cougars won their first state tournament match in the first round, outlasting eighth-ranked Manson in five games. Curlew and ACH still have a shot at fourth place with two wins today.

Lind-Ritzville (20-11) fell in the first round to Gar-Pal, but the Broncos rebounded with a three-game win over South Bend in the consolation bracket. Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Kragt had eight kills for the Broncos. L-R plays at 8:30 this morning against Wilson Creek, and could place fifth with two wins.

Also in the first round, ACH knocked off Summit of Seattle 25-20, 25-19, 25-20. Sophomore Kami Clark led the Warriors with 22 kills, and senior Michelle Balcom had 26 assists and 12 digs. Davenport blew out Evergreen Lutheran in another first-round match 25-11, 25-15, 25-14. Junior outside hitter Kaylee Semprimoznik, all of 5-foot-6, led the Gorillas with nine kills and sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Morrison contributed 15 digs.

State 2A

Both Great Northern League entries in the tournament find themselves in the consolation semifinals at Yakima. Colville was swept in three games by semifinalist Woodland in the first round, 25-19, 25-15, 25-22, but stayed alive in the tournament by beating Cascade (Leavenworth) 25-20, 17-25, 27-25, 25-18. Colville plays Eatonville in a 9 a.m. match today, with the winner advancing to play for fifth and eighth place. … Pullman advanced into the quarterfinal round by beating Ridgefield of Vancouver 24-26, 25-23, 25-15, 25-16, behind the 16 kills of Grethe Vogel and 30 digs of Katie Hinrichs. The Greyhounds were knocked off in round of eight by Meridian, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21. Vogel had a dozen kills and Hinrichs 18 digs in the loss. Setter Amy Small had 50 assists in the two games. Pullman plays Rochester at 10:45 a.m. today, with the winner advancing to play for fourth and seventh place.

State 1A

Amy Bruya dished off 65 assists and served up six aces to lead Colfax into the semifinals of the tournament for the fifth straight year. A win over Onalaska today in a 10:45 a.m. match would boost the Bulldogs into the finals for the second straight year and the fourth time in the past five seasons. Colfax started the day by sweeping Royal 25-15, 25-14, 25-6. Colfax was pushed to the limit in the quarterfinals, but survived a five-game battle with Kalama to advance 29-27, 25-16, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10. Lauren Mellor had 33 kills, six aces and 10 blocks on the day. Jill Folbrack added seven aces, 19 kills and 27 digs, and Katie Burns came up with 43 digs. Colfax lost to Lind-Ritzville in last year’s final and won back-to-back state championships in 2000 and 2001. … Freeman was tripped in the quarterfinals, falling to Goldendale 25-21, 25-19, 25-21. The Scotties advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Liberty Bell 25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 18-25, 15-8. The Scotties play La Conner or Coupeville today at 10:45 a.m. in a loser-out game.