Sports notebook: Eagles enjoy great fall

It’s been the kind of year West Valley envisioned when the Eagles moved into the Great Northern 2A League.

Every fall team has advanced to post-season play with volleyball, soccer and two cross country teams qualifying for state.

The Eagles volleyball team played its way into today’s district championship game against Pullman with a rugged five-game 25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 22-25, 14-11 victory over Colville.

Luryn Abrahamson had 14 kills for the Eagles and Alyssa Wold 42 assists. Brittany Anderson had 16 back row digs and Shaniqua Nilles seven front row blocks to lead the defense.

The Eagles had earned second seed and a bye into the district semifinals by beating the Indians during a three-team tiebreaker earlier in the week.

Today’s match at Cheney at 2 p.m. determines state seeding to the 2A tournament next weekend in Kennewick.

Eagles fans will have time to catch the district soccer championship at Spokane Falls Community College when WV meets Cheney at 11 a.m. for the district title and state seeding.

West Valley earned a spot in the title match and fourth meeting against the Blackhawks this year with a 2-0 win Thursday over Pullman. Laura Estey and Torrey Finn each had first-half goals to propel the Eagles into the district finals.

A week ago Friday, WV’s boys and girls cross country teams reached today’s state races in Pasco, although for the boys it was a dicey prospect.

Krystal Hughes was district champion, senior Camille Mackie placed sixth and Rachel Rubright seventh as the Eagles girls finished second, four points behind Deer Park.

“It’s amazing just how much we improved,” said Hughes. “At the beginning of the season our team captain (Mackie) really wanted to make it to state her senior year, and I think that really made us change our minds that we needed to work harder this year.”

The GNL co-champions placed just third in the district race. The Eagles went out too fast and had no runner higher than seventh individually.

In football West Valley (5-5) had record-setting seasons from quarterback Bryan Peterson and receiver Parker Flynn to reach the post-season for the first time since 1987. The Eagles will play at Othello Tuesday for a chance to play in the state tournament.

State cross country

Central Valley boys and girls teams and several Valley individuals are running today in the state cross country meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

The Bears girls defended their regional championship last Saturday, and the boys finished third.

CV’s Jayson Taylor was individual champion, and Jason Stoker, Kyle Staples, Bryan Aguilar, Justin Hoff, Andrew Cesal and Brandon Heintz followed. The Bears were without No. 2 Bryce Aguilar because of injury.

Eden Lake finished fifth and Madi Barnes seventh for CV with Breanna Barsten, Josie Warner, Ari Rios, Camille Carter and Jenna Peterson rounding out things for the girls team champs.

Also qualifying for state were University’s Stevie Gildehaus in 4A and East Valley’s Lauren Bergam in 3A. During Class B district competition, Valley Christian’s Jeff Pope placed third.

U-Hi, EV in regionals

University’s volleyball team is playing this weekend in Yakima for a spot in the State 4A tournament. The tournament began Friday and continues today, either at 10 a.m. or 11:30 depending upon whether the Titans won or lost.

They stunned Shadle Park last weekend to finish third in District 8 4A play, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 24-26 as Kasey Jurich and Laura Leach had 17 kills apiece. Chanel Ratkovich had an amazing 32 digs during the four-game match.

U-Hi opened the tournament against Columbia Basin League runnerup Eisenhower and will play either Mead or Walla Walla in today’s semifinals.

East Valley finished second in the District 8 3A tournament, beating North Central in five matches to reach this weekend’s regional tournament.

The Knights came from behind in five games to oust the Indians, 25-22, 17-25, 16-25, 25-20, 15-11. They lost in four games, 25-21, 28-26, 23-25, 25-23 to Mt. Spokane in the championship match. Amanda Hiebert and Allie Riggin were kills leaders in the respective matches. Kelsey Kurtz had 60 assists and Kirsten Kelly 48 digs combined in the two matches.

EV needs two wins today at Mead to qualify for state. The Knights open against Southridge at noon in a loser-out contest with matches to follow at 2 and 4:30.

Freeman is in Leavenworth today in the eight-team 1A regional beginning at 10 a.m. Four teams qualify for state.

Good stats for gridders

East Valley and Freeman played Friday night and West Valley plays Tuesday for state football tournament berths.

University on Friday and Central Valley today end their seasons with nonleague Columbia Basin League cross over games.

Final Greater Spokane League statistics saw several Spokane Valley athletes among the season leaders.

The Titans Tyler Carlson finished second among GSL rushers with 742 yards, and Case Parker of the Knights was a 604-yard rusher, fourth-best in league.

Also among the top 10 were Central Valley’s Taylor Price (sixth with 559) and Tyler Cochran (seventh with 505).

U-Hi’s Danny Jordan finished third among passers, completing 113 of 197 attempts for 1,101 yards. Jordan finished with 3,068 for his career, 12th best all-time for GSL passers.

Lonnie Quirk, who was on the field last night against Southridge, finished fifth with 1,008 yards and a dozen touchdowns, and junior Blake Bledsoe was sixth with 975 yards.

Valley teams had a wealth of fine receivers. First-year end Danny Marshall caught 33 passes for 481 yards and eight touchdowns for EV. He was fourth in the league in yardage and second in TDs. U-Hi’s Dalton Puyear finished sixth with 31 catches and 446 yards, EV’s Dakota Lawson was seventh with 27 receptions for 367 yards, Patrick Mealey of CV was eighth with 25 catches for 328 yards, and Travis Clark finished 10th, catching 31 balls for 302 yards.

CV kicker receiver Connor Janhunen was fourth in scoring with 66 points.