Pomeroy puts coach step closer to title

Win or lose, Jim Greene is going to hang up his whistle when the State B volleyball tournament finishes today at Eastern Washington University’s Reese Court. The longtime coach at Pomeroy, and at Reardan before that, said more than a quarter century as a varsity volleyball coach is enough.

His Pomeroy Pirates (27-1) seem poised to send their coach out on a winning note.

Pomeroy, the fourth-ranked team in the state according to the final Washington State Volleyball Coaches’ poll, knocked off top-ranked Davenport 25-21, 27-25, 25-23, to advance into today’s semifinal round. The Pirates will face unranked Toutle Lake, a 25-20, 25-15, 25-19 winner over Orcas Island, at 2:30 p.m.

Sarah Bates knocked down 22 kills and came up with a team-high 13 digs to lead Pomeroy while Kayleigh Greene served up 34 assists against the Gorillas.

Dayton, the No. 3-ranked team in the final poll, swept past the Hurricanes of Mount Vernon Christian, 25-9, 25-11, 25-23. The Bulldogs face ninth-ranked Sprague-Harrington, an upset winner over No. 2 Riverside Christian, 25-22, 30-28, 25-15. The Falcons cruised past Moses Lake Christian in the quarterfinal match 25-18, 25-21, 25-19.

Stephanie Turner led Dayton in the quarterfinals, leading her team in kills (seven), blocks (four), and assists (11).

The potential is there for Pomeroy and Dayton to play for the fifth time this season. The Pirates, although seeded behind Dayton in the final poll, have won three of the four previous meetings. The only loss Pomeroy has suffered in 28 games this season came from the Bulldogs.

“We beat them once in league and they beat us in league,” Dayton coach Shannon Turner said. “But they beat us twice in the playoffs.”

Greene is especially pleased with the way his team is playing.

“I’ve coached high school volleyball at the varsity level now for 26 years,” Greene said. “This is the most cohesive team I have ever had. We don’t have a star. I just have a group of good, solid volleyball players.”

Greene won back-to-back state titles twice while coaching at Reardan, in 1987 and 1988, and 1982 and 1983. He captured his fifth championship with Pomeroy in 1997.

Against the top-ranked Gorillas, it was all about being scrappy.

“You just beat us,” Davenport coach Pete Schweiger said. “You just out-hustled us.”

Sprague-Harrington wasn’t intimidated by Riverside Christian in its opener and still has room for improvement, according to coach Tammy Cronrath.

“I don’t think we played especially well this morning,” she said. “I know we weren’t intimidated by Riverside Christian – I know our team doesn’t pay any attention to the polls.

“We had trouble finding any consistency. I think we played better against Moses Lake Christian – they play some pretty good defense over there.”

Dayton, too, had trouble finding its focus against Mt. Vernon Christian, falling behind in the third game before rallying to close out the three-game sweep.

“We just could not find our focus there for a while,” Turner said. “We were beating ourselves there in the third game. We were a little excited.

“Part of it for us is that we’re used to a tougher level of competition. Of course, that all changes (today).”

The final state poll did little to predict this year’s final four. Of the top 10 teams in the poll, half (No. 2 Riverside Christian, No. 5 Curlew, No. 6 Manson, No. 8 Evergreen Lutheran and No. 10 Naselle) lost in the first round. Two teams, Evergreen Lutheran and Naselle, were two-and-out teams. Only three remained alive in the championship bracket for today’s semifinal round.