Class 4A and 3A state (WIAA) volleyball tournaments take over Yakima Valley SunDome this weekend
YAKIMA, Wash. – Last week’s Class 2A, 1A and 'B' volleyball tournaments in the Yakima Valley SunDome defined dominance: One team won its fourth straight championship, two teams three-peated and the fourth title-winner was unbeaten, seeded No. 2 and sat atop the SBLive.com preseason poll.
Hardly the ball for Cinderella.
This weekend’s Class4A and 3A tournaments figure to be much less predictable. Heck, neither field even has its defending champ.
Play gets started Friday morning and championship matches are scheduled for 5:30 (4A) and 7:30 (3A) on Saturday.
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CLASS 4A
Olympia rode a strong district tournament showing to the top seed this weekend. The Bears, who finished sixth a year ago after being seeded 15th, knocked off eighth-seeded Puyallup, No. 9 Kennedy Catholic and Camas, seeded second, to capture their district title.
“We definitely got a confidence boost,” Olympia coach Christie Oldright said. “But they know we have to maintain focus on what we do and what we do well.”
The seeding committee didn’t do the Bears any favors, however. Should they defeat No. 16 Skyline on Friday morning, a rematch with either Kennedy Catholic or Puyallup, the state runner-up a year ago which beat Olympia early in the season, awaits.
“When you get to this point, you have a real group of quality teams,” Oldright said.
Camas was unbeaten before it fell to Olympia. In fact, the Papermakers, who ripped through the 4A Greater St. Helen’s League, had lost just six sets and swept the Bears earlier in a September match.
Another team to watch out for is fifth-seeded Kamiakin. The field’s lone unbeaten squad whose No. 9 RPI ranking might help explain its seeding, has dropped just six sets this season and handed No. 7 seed Gonzaga Prep, the RPI’s top-ranked team, a four-set loss last week.
Last year’s champion Graham-Kapowsin did not qualify this year after a senior-heavy lineup led the seventh-seeded Eagles to their first state championship.
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CLASS 3A
North Thurston enters the tournament seeded No. 1 with an RPI ranking to match.
The Rams, who were seeded eighth but fell a match short of the trophy round in last year’s tournament, swept through the 3A South Sound Conference, which also includes tournament-qualifiers Gig Harbor (No. 9 seed), Central Kitsap (18) and Peninsula (19).
The road to the district championship also included a sweep over eighth-seeded Prairie.
“We had a really difficult route in the district tournament and the girls only dropped one set,” North Thurston coach Jackie Meyer said. “The competition really has us prepared for state.”
Still, with limited non=league matches available, some of the higher-seeded teams remain somewhat of a mystery.
“We never see them till we get to state,” Meyer said. “But my girls are prepared.”
Lynnwood is No. 2 in the bracket after qualifying as the 14th seed a year ago. The Royals join North Thurston as the field’s only undefeated squads and haven’t been pushed to a fifth set this season.
Last year’s runner-up, Mead, is seeded third. The eight-time champion Panthers’ only in-state loss was to Greater Spokane League rival and 4A contender Gonzaga, which Mead avenged later in the season.
Last year’s champion Lakeside did not make it back to the SunDome.
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