3A volleyball: Tough break hurts Mt. Spokane; Shadle Park also out

Give the Mt. Spokane Wildcats an inch and they might be making a trip of 300 miles.

Instead, Mid-Columbia Conference schools Kamiakin and Southridge are headed over the mountains for the State 3A volleyball tournament in Lacey. Mt. Spokane and its Greater Spokane League neighbor, Shadle Park, are staying home, finished with their seasons.

Saturday’s 3A regional at Mt. Spokane will always be remembered by the host Wildcats as the one that got away.

The afternoon began with MCC No. 1 Kamiakin and GSL No. 1 Mt. Spokane playing for the No. 1 berth to state. What happened in the first game, with Mt. Spokane leading 26-25, proved the crucial moment for the Braves earning that No. 1 seed.

Wildcats senior outside hitter Arianna Newcomb appeared to have the winning point with her kill attempt, but the ball was ruled out of bounds. The score was then tied at 26, 27, 28 and 29 before Leanna Shymanski’s kill gave the Braves the edge in a game that ended 31-29.

Coach Dave Whitehead was sure his Wildcats had won 27-25.

“I was already walking over to the other side,” Whitehead said. … “They said it was outside the antennae and one of our girls said, ‘Yeah, it was.’ I didn’t see it. I thought it was good. You know, it’s a line judge call and they made it.”

Shymanski also had the winning kill when the Braves won the second game 25-23. The Wildcats controlled the third game and won 25-22 before Kamiakin dominated the 25-12 fourth game.

One inch more in the first game and the teams would have played a fifth game to 15.

Mt. Spokane had to wait 2 hours before playing for the No. 2 seed to state against Southridge, fresh off a 25-21, 25-15, 25-13 sweep of Shadle.

Shadle fought the Suns in the first game, which was tied at 18 before a Southridge rally. The Highlanders were within 15-13 in the second game before the wheels came off.

The Suns took control of the first game against Mt. Spokane with a pair of 6-0 runs and deflected every Wildcats rally after that for a 25-15, 25-17, 25-15 victory.

“It’s very tough to come back after you lose a very emotional game (and play) a team that had just won,” Whitehead said. “(The Suns) were up and we just couldn’t get out emotion going.

“My main message to them (after the game) was you never know when your last game is going to be, so always enjoy the volleyball. We have six seniors that we love dearly and we’re going to miss having them around.”

Shadle is a fairly young team that started three juniors and a sophomore.