Willapa Valley and Taholah survived to advance to Day 2 of the 1B State Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday in Yakima.
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PREP VOLLEYBALL
Darrington 3, Willapa Valley 0
Willapa Valley struggled to slow the fifth-seeded Darrington Loggers in a straight-set loss in the first round of the 1B State Tournament on Wednesday at the SunDome in Yakima.
The No. 12 Vikings (14-7 overall) opened their tournament play with a 25-10, 25-15 and 25-10 loss to the Loggers (19-5).
“Great team with a ton of talent in the front row. We just weren’t ready for their outside hitting,” Valley head coach Chelsea Kempton said. “They’re fast and played well. We got caught standing too many times and couldn’t get a consistent rhythm going. We learned where we needed to improve for the next match.”
With the loss, Valley faced No. 13 Soap Lake in an elimination game.
Willapa Valley 10 15 10 – 0
Darrington 25 25 25 – 3
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Willapa Valley 3, Soap Lake 1
The Vikings recovered from their first-round loss to advance to Day 2 with a 3-1 win over No. 13 Soap Lake in an elimination game.
After dropping the first set 28-26, Valley swept three games by scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 25-19 to beat the Eagles (16-5).
“This was a great matchup and really just an exciting match to watch. Soap Lake rarely let the ball drop and had really great defense,” Valley head coach Chelsea Kempton said. “We had to be a little more intentional with how we were passing and hitting. We had a few girls step up and really take control of the game in a crucial turning point of the match. Super proud of this team for making it happen and advancing to Day 2 of state playoffs. This is huge for these girls and I’m just so happy for them to have this experience and see the successes they are having. It’s been an incredible experience and to end the day advancing, it’s everything.”
Valley faces No. 16 Liberty Christian (Richland) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, with the winner advancing to the state seventh/eighth-place game.
Soap Lake 28 22 18 19 – 1
Willapa Valley 26 25 25 25 – 3
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Neah Bay 3, Taholah 0
Taholah’s state tournament got off to a rocky start as the Chitwhins were upset by No. 11 Neah Bay in straight sets on Wednesday in Yakima.
Sixth-seeded Taholah (17-4) lost by scores of 26-24, 25-14 and 25-22 to the Red Devils (12-6).
No further information was available for this game.
Neah Bay 26 25 25 – 3
Taholah 24 14 22 – 0
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Taholah 3, Providence Classical 2
Taholah responded from its first-round loss to keep its season alive with a 3-2 win over Providence Classical Christian in an elimination game on Wednesday.
The Chitwhins were on the brink of elimination after dropping the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-21, but Taholah rode the momentum of a 30-28 third-set victory to take sets four and five by scores of 25-19 and 15-10, respectively, to eliminate the No. 19 Highlanders (18-10).
No further information was available for this game.
Taholah faces No. 6 Waterville-Mansfield at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to the state seventh/eighth-place game.
Providence Classical 25 25 28 19 10 – 2
Taholah 18 21 30 25 15 – 3
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GIRLS PREP SWIMMING
Aberdeen places second at district meet
Aberdeen’s girls swimming team, along with Hoquiam and Montesano, competed in the 2A District 4 Championships at Mark Morris HS in Longview on Friday and Saturday.
Aberdeen took second overall in the team standings, with Columbia River winning the district team title. Hoquiam, with four swimmers, finished 14th overall. Montesano’s Willow Valentine, as a solo swimmer, finished 18th in the team standings.
Aberdeen’s Mija Hood qualified for the state meet with a second place finish in the 100-yard backstroke and a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly. Zahrya Graham, who competed last weekend, qualified for the state meet in diving.
“We brought 21 swimmers overall to the district meet and all of them came away with personal best times,” Aberdeen head coach Anne Eisele said. “The girls had a great meet. We didn’t move on to state who we wanted, but we will know more later (with wildcards).”
Aberdeen will learn if it’ll get any wildcard entries into the state meet, which starts Thursday at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
– submitted article
