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KENNEWICK -- Taylor Dillard spoke with a lot of bravado for a player whose team hasn't been this far at state in a long time.
Fife had just finished off Mark Morris in five sets in Friday's quarterfinals of the 2A state volleyball tournament, and the Trojans junior setter looked ahead to her team's semifinal matchup today against Archbishop Murphy.
"We beat them last year here, so we go in with confidence that we'll kill them," she said.
Kill them? "That's the plan," she said, smiling.
Dillard can be excused her moment of hubris. The Trojans are back in the semifinals for the first time since 2001 after rallying for a 25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 victory over the Monarchs.
Their opponent this afternoon, Archbishop Murphy, continued a season of firsts by reaching the semifinals for the first time in school history.
The first-time district champions avenged a first-round loss to Grandview in their opener Thursday morning, 25-12, 25-15, 25-11 -- the Wildcats had never won their first-round match before -- then followed up with a 16-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-18 win over West Valley (Spokane).
"We're so excited. This team has just come together, and it's fun to watch," said senior Savannah Fletcher, who had 16 kills against Grandview and nine against West Valley.
"It was nice for the returning players to come out strong this morning. That set the tone for this match. We stepped it up in the second game and showed (West Valley) what we're made of."
Today's other semifinal matches Black Hills and Pullman. The Wolves exorcised some demons in beating Selah in four sets, while the Greyhounds rallied from two sets down to get past Burlington-Edison.
Black Hills had been dumped into the losers bracket the past three years by the Vikings, and the Wolves needed five tries on match point before finally getting through, 25-19, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23 to reach the semis for the second year in a row.
Last year, they fell to Selah in the semifinals and finished sixth.
Pullman completed its comeback in the midst of Mead's rally in the 4A final. The Greyhounds staved off six match points in the fifth set and scored the final eight points to escape against B-E 25-27, 29-31, 25-22, 25-10, 16-14, and return to the semis for the first time since 2006.
"I knew we had the ability to do this," said Hounds setter Katie Guettinger. "I love this team. We gave everything we could to be where we are now."
Grandview coach John LaFever wishes he could say the same about his team following its first-round loss. The Greyhounds were overpowered by the Wildcats, recording only nine kills in three sets against 19 hitting errors.
"We just didn't play a very competitive game," said LaFever, whose team plays R.A. Long in an elimination match at 9 a.m. "We're super young, and we played like we were deer in the headlights."
2A state tournament
Toyota Center
First round
West Valley (Spokane) d. R.A. Long 10-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-16
Archbishop Murphy d. Grandview 25-12, 25-15, 25-11
Mark Morris d. Anacortes 23-25, 26-24, 25-13, 25-20
Fife d. East Valley (Yakima) 25-13, 25-20, 29-27
Black Hills d. Washington 25-10, 25-10, 25-13
Selah d. Colville 25-22, 25-14, 25-13
Burlington-Edison d. Hockinson 26-24, 25-14, 25-16
Pullman d. Lynden 25-17, 25-18, 25-12
Quarterfinals
Archbishop Murphy d. West Valley 16-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-18
Fife d. Mark Morris 25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11
Black Hills d. Selah 25-19, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23
Pullman d. Burlington-Edison 25-27, 29-31, 25-22, 25-10, 16-14
Today's schedule
Match 9, R.A. Long vs. Grandview (loser out), 9 a.m.
Match 10, Anacortes vs. East Valley (loser out), 9 a.m.
Match 11, Washington vs. Colville (loser out), 10:30 a.m.
Match 12, Hockinson vs. Lynden (loser out), 10:30 a.m.
Match 17, winner 9 vs. winner 10 (loser out), noon
Match 18, winner 11 vs. winner 12 (loser out), noon
Match 19, West Valley vs. Mark Morris, (loser out), 3:30 p.m.
Match 20, Selah vs. Burlington-Edison (loser out), 3:30 p.m.
Match 21, Archbishop Murphy vs. Fife, 2 p.m.
Match 22, Black Hills vs. Pullman, 2 p.m.
Fifth/eighth -- 5 p.m.
Fourth/seventh -- 8 p.m.
Third/sixth -- 8 p.m.
Championship -- 6:30 p.m.
West Valley 3, R.A. Long 1
R.A. Long--Bekah Spurgeon 10 digs; Katie Sarysz 9 kills; Rachel Morrow 8 kills, 5 blocks; Hannah Johnson 4 kills, 19 assists, 4 blocks. West Valley--Bailey Wold 14 kills, 6 aces; Shaniquia Nilles 9 kills, 8 blocks, 13 digs; Brooklyn Robinson 32 assists, 4 kills.
AM 3, Grandview 0
Grandview--Gabby Sauve 12 digs; Haley Smasne 3 kills. Archbishop Murphy--Savannah Fletcher 16 kills, 2 aces; Becca Gotz 7 kills, 2 blocks; Megan Carlson 3 blocks; Rachel Peterson 6 kills; Dani Baehm 22 assists.
Mark Morris 3, Anacortes 1
Anacortes--Jessica Straight 16 kills, 5 blocks; Tyler Calles 16 kills; Faight Vanderway 35 assists; Aleice Lofgren 20 digs. Mark Morris--Shantelle Savage 28 digs, 11 kills; Danielle Gilchrist 32 assists, 8 kills, 18 digs, 3 aces; Alesha Schulz 20 digs, 5 aces; Shawna Smith 9 kills.
Fife 3, East Valley 0
East Valley--Kayla Alaniz 7 kills; Annie Martinez 10 kills; Kayla Davis 8 kills; Jaime Miller 26 assists. Fife--Taylor Dillard 36 assists, 4 aces, 3 kills; Jessica Miller 26 kills, 4 blocks, 6 digs.
Black Hills 3, Washington 0
Washington--Brianna Glass 10 assists; Loha Faafolau 5 kills. Black Hills--Kailah Lenz 17 kills, 3 blocks, 7 digs, 3 aces; Rachel Warick 12 kills; Taylor Aschenbrenner 33 assists, 3 blocks; Hillary Lutz 5 kills, 12 digs; Whitney Martin 8 kills, 9 digs.
Selah 3, Colville 0
Colville--Makayla Carr 8 kills; Emily Pond 5 kills, 9 digs; Leanna Carr 16 assists, 11 digs. Selah--Erin Smith 17 kills, 6 blocks, 5 digs; Jamie Allison 20 assists, 18 digs; Kayla Dexter 9 kills; Natalie Fickes 10 assists, 11 digs, 3 kills.
Burlington-Edison 3, HOckinson 0
Hockinson--No report. B-E--Cheryl Eubanks 14 kills, 12 digs; Katlyn Mataya 26 assists, 10 digs; Jordan Lautenbach 13 digs.
Pullman 3, Lynden 0
Lynden--No report. Pullman--Shelby Cheslek 10 kills; Danielle Hodge 9 kills, 4 aces; Jenny Nakata 7 kills, 13 digs; Katie Guettinger 14 assists; Kara Weitz 11 assists, 5 aces.
Archbishop Murphy 3, West Valley 1
West Valley--Bailey Wold 13 kills; Shaniqua Nilles 7 kills, 11 digs; Brooklyn Robinson 31 assists. Archbishop Murphy--Dani Baehm 46 assists, 4 aces; Becca Gotz 16 kills, 3 aces; Savannah Fletcher 9 kills, 4 blocks.
Fife 3, Mark Morris 2
Mark Morris--Alesha Schulz 5 aces, 14 digs; Danielle Gilchrist 32 assists, 16 digs, 5 kills; Shantelle Savage 13 kills, 27 digs; Jill Issacson 35 digs. Fife--Taylor Dillard 51 assists, 4 kills, 12 digs; Jessica Miller 33 kills, 8 digs; Sydney Behrendt 9 kills, 3 aces.
Black Hills 3, Selah 1
Black Hills--Kailah Lenz 17 kills, 19 digs, 3 blocks; Hillary Lutz 12 kills, 4 blocks; Rachel Warick 12 kills, 20 digs; Taylor Aschenbrenner 35 assists, 13 digs; Whitney Martin 21 digs, 6 kills. Selah--Erin Smith 11 kills, 8 blocks, 13 digs, 2 aces; Jamie Alliston 16 assists, 17 digs; Natalie Fickes 21 assists, 12 digs; Veronica Sanchez 24 digs.
Pullman 3, Burlington-Edison 2
B-E--No report. Pullman--Shelby Cheslek 15 kills, 4 blocks; Danielle Hodge 18 kills, 4 blocks; Jordan Levenseller 35 digs, 4 aces; Katie Guettinger 31 assists, 4 aces; Cayley Byrne 43 digs.
