Deja vu for Colfax in 2B

YAKIMA – Saturday night was Family Night for the Colfax Bulldogs at the State 2B volleyball tournament in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Not only did the Bulldogs win the title – again – this time by beating Bi-County League rival Northwest Christian 25-21, 25-19, 25-10 – but veteran coach Sue Doering was inducted into the Washington State Volleyball Coaches Associated Hall of Fame before the championship tilt and her daughter – Megan – coached St. John-Endicott in the State 1B title game against LaCrosse-Washtucna.

“We had to stop what they were doing that was working,” Doering said by way of explaining the difference between the first two games and the third. “We focus on playing five-point mini-games and we did well in those tonight.”

She also did well thanks to the net play of senior Kayla Johnson and the consistent serving of freshman Amelie Bruya.

“Our motto this week was the team that won’t be beat can’t be beat,” Johnson said afterward. “And we weren’t.”

This championship – the sixth straight for Colfax, 10th for Sue Doering and 11th in school history – came without losing a game. In those six trips to state, the Bulldogs have lost just nine games total.

“They’re just so together,” NWC coach Chris Wells said. “You give them everything you have and they give it right back to you.”

Wells and Doering engaged in some playful banter at breakfast Saturday morning. After two earlier losses to Colfax, Wells said his team wanted another shot, knowing that could only happen in the title match.

The rematch happened, but the Crusaders still didn’t win a game.

The stewardship of the Colfax juggernaut has been handled by seniors like the high-flying Johnson and the continuity is a result of player development – Doering’s ability to turn untested freshmen into contributors.

In the three-game quarterfinal win against La Conner – a match most believe would have been the title contest in a seeded tournament – freshman Bruya came up big behind the service line. In a taut second game, Bruya had service runs of four, three and three points, including closing the game out. Those points were the difference in a 25-20 win that seemed to sap the Braves will. She was also behind the line during the final scoring string in the third game.

And Bruya and Johnson got the Bulldogs rolling in the title match. Bruya had the only-two-point serving run in the first game and Johnson was dominant at the net with seven kills. Bruya’s run – which gave Colfax an 8-5 lead – was the only margin the Bulldogs needed. The lead was cut to one point twice the rest of the way, but NWC could never pull even.

The second game was a mirror of the first. Once NWC fell behind 13-10 it couldn’t get closer and Bruya held serve for four points to open a 22-14 lead. The Crusaders pulled to within 22-18, but no closer.

In the third game, Colfax roared out to leads of 5-0 and 10-3 and was never threatened.

NWC advanced to the championship match with a 3-2 win over Christian Faith and a 3-0 sweep of Toutle Lake.

The Tekoa-Oakesdale Nighthawks closed out the tournament with a pair of victories to take home the fifth-place trophy.

The Nighthawks opened the day with a 25-14, 26-24, 21-25, 25-14 win over Darrington.

Tekoa-Oakesdale followed up with a 25-13, 25-20, 25-19 sweep over Bear Creek in the battle for fifth and eighth place.