Mt. Spokane volleyball surprises everyone

It seems like every year there is that one team that surprises the entire league. The one that has everyone saying “where did they come from?”

This fall it was the Mt. Spokane High School volleyball team.

The Wildcats were picked before the beginning of the season to finish eighth in the Greater Spokane League. Instead, they ended up 7-3 and tied with Gonzaga Prep for third overall, finishing behind state top-ranked Mead and second-ranked Lewis and Clark.

Last weekend they traveled to Kennewick and played in the 3A regional tournament where they narrowly missed out on a trip to this weekend’s state tournament. They were eliminated by Southridge, which earned the last of two state berths. The match went to five games, with a fifth game score of 16-14.

While not many people saw their success coming, Wildcats’ coach John Reid knew his team had the potential to do good things. During the regular season, Mt. Spokane lost to LC in four games, Mead in three and topped 4A state-bound Shadle Park in three games, 26-24, 26-24, 26-24.

“These girls really did right things at the right time,” Reid said. “The girls didn’t expect to win, but they expected to be competitive and when it got down to the end they were coming through. Against Shadle we won every game by two points after we were behind. That’s what volleyball is about, you can still be down and come back and that’s exciting I think.”

His varsity lineup includes five seniors and five juniors.

“The thing about these girls is we didn’t have that one person who is a star,” Reid said. “All of them complement each other tremendously. They weren’t selfish, and they were able to recognize that when we put them in place and situations they had an opportunity to show what they could do, and that’s what they did.”

If the team was to name a ‘star’ though it would be Jen Andrews. The 5-foot-6 outside hitter led the Wildcats with 154 kills and contributed 139 digs on defense. Andrews is also an all-state softball player.

“Jen has great explosive abilities,” Reid said. “She hits the ball very smart. She is a competitor and on the court it was never about her. If she had an off night she always made her teammates play better.”

Reid is losing half of his team, as Andrews and teammates Megan Blomquist, Jordan Roskelley, Kera Ioane and outside hitter Hillary Johnson are all seniors.

Blomquist was one of two setters for the Wildcats. At 5-4, she spent last year as a defensive specialist and developed her skills as a setter for this year. She is one of the main players, Reid said, held the team together.

Roskelley was a relative newcomer. As a freshman and sophomore she ran cross country. But as a junior she gave up varsity cross country to play junior varsity volleyball. At 5-9, Roskelley added depth in the middle.

Ioane, who never played club, is also a cheerleader at the school and is involved in many activities. The left-hander played all four years and emerged this year as a right-side hitter. Johnson rounded out the senior lineup and gave Reid an option on the outside.

”(Kera) just stood out from what she had in the beginning to what she was at the end of the season,” Reid said. “She came through for us time after time. It was very exciting.”

So the Wildcats, losing half of their team next year, are faced with looking into the future. And it isn’t out of the question that they will be a factor again next year.

“The girls felt disappointed they didn’t get to state and that will be a motivating factor next year,” Reid said. “We will definitely miss our seniors, but they have left a challenge for the juniors to step up. Success is contagious.”

The juniors who will be back next year include Jordon Hoffnagle, Lindsay Labenne, Christine Whitehead, Jenna Canter and Caitlin Barschig, the team’s only 6-footer.

Hoffnagle is a 5-4 setter and is what Reid calls the “spark plug.” Labenne is a solid libero. She led her team with 182 digs for the season.

”(Lindsay) is a very rare find,” Reid said. “She came into the program knowing that she wanted to be a libero. She was an anchor on defense.”

With all that they are losing, they still have half of what made things work so well this year. Maybe next season the Wildcats’ success won’t come as such a surprise.