After remarkable effort, Scotties bring home trophy

In four years as a member of Freeman’s volleyball team, senior Kayla Floyd played in four State 1A tournaments and the Scotties brought home three trophies.

The most remarkable, perhaps was last weekend’s seventh-place effort in Yakima. While not their highest finish, this was significant because a couple of weeks earlier they were not even likely to qualify.

“It was a lot different team this year,” said Floyd. “There was a lot of inexperience and injury. I was surprised we made it out of district, actually.”

To recap, the Scotties had graduated nearly all the key players from teams that had placed second and third in state the previous two seasons. The young crew – only three seniors, with Floyd the most experienced – had gone just 6-8 during the regular season and placed third in the four-team Northeast A League. Freeman lost twice each to eventual state champion Colfax and Newport.

Yet a come-through state qualifying effort in district made way for a sterling effort last weekend at state, a 2-2 record that included an emotions-draining rally from two games down to beat Coupeville and assure the trophy.

“It really is surprising,” said coach Kenny Davis. “This is really good from where the kids came from.”

The Scotties opened the tournament by beating third-ranked Liberty Bell 25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 18-25, 15-8. They lost to Goldendale in three close games in the quarterfinals.

“Goldendale was tough, but we did not play well against them,” said Davis.

On Saturday the team faced Coupeville, which had been ranked No. 1 in a coaches poll prior to state. After losing 18-25, 15-25 in the first two games, the Scotties made a miraculous rebound, 25-23, 25-16 and 22-20 in the five-game marathon.

“I told the kids if we adjusted our blocking and service receive we’d be fine,” said Davis. “They didn’t quit. I couldn’t believe what they had done. The kids were so emotionally spent after the Coupeville match they were literally crying.”

Freeman lost the match for fourth-place and seventh-place to Kalama in three games. But for Floyd it was a gratifying end to her Scotties volleyball career.

“I don’t even know how to say it,” she said. “This year I was the only experienced player and had to take a leadership role I was not used to taking. It still hasn’t hit me that we made it that far. No one thought we would. We showed up the last couple of weeks and played so well, it’s hard to put into words.”

Despite the losing season volleyball record, coaches had ranked Freeman seventh in the final poll, causing Davis to ponder why.

Although they missed on Coupeville and Liberty Bell, who went unplaced, and there was some juggling among other top-10 teams for state placing, they hit the Scotties right on.

“The kids really grew a lot in the last three weeks,” Davis said. “These are the most (quiet) girls I’ve had, but at state they became more vocal.”

Football playoffs continue

East Valley and Freeman take the next step in the state football playoffs, with 1 p.m. games today in Spokane Valley.

The Knights (9-3) host Kelso (10-1) in a game between teams with a state history and grind-it-out styles.

“They are a run-oriented football team,” said coach Adam Fisher. “Our styles are very similar. It will be a physical football game.”

Last week EV beat pass-happy Clover Park, 26-14, despite what Fisher characterized as less than esthetic technical effort.

“We missed a lot more assignments offensively than I thought,” said Fisher. “It’s a tribute we’re still playing despite a lot of unpolished things. Defensively we played great.”

The Scotties (10-0) face Zillah (9-3) at Central Valley in a game pitting strong 1A programs against each other.

Freeman made the quarterfinals last year and Zillah is in its fourth straight state playoff. The Leopards were a state finalist last year.

“It’s pretty much a team concept,” said coach Jeff Smith, of his game plan this week. “We’ll trust each other and do the best job we can.”

Four sign at same time

It isn’t unusual to have a student sign and fax from the school office a letter of intent to play college athletics, said University Activities Vice Principal Ken VanSickle.

To have four do so on the same day, three to Division I colleges, as happened at U-Hi last week, was unusual.

“It’s just something special that doesn’t happen very often,” VanSickle said.

The quartet to officially sign were Jami Bjorklund, who will play basketball at Gonzaga University, twins Haley and Mandy Parsons, who will play golf at Washington State University, and Emily Kuipers, who signed to play basketball for Division II Regis College in Colorado.

“You just don’t have that,” said VanSickle. “Especially in one day. We’ve had special moments like when Anthony Buchanan signed for track at WSU, and Don Turner signed for football (two years later), but those were kind of singular events.

“When it was four in one day, it was, like, ‘Wow’ !”