Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Day off but still thinkin' sports

As I drove home from Spokane on Saturday night after the 4A Eastern Regional volleyball tournament, two things consumed my thoughts:

1) Boy, those mozzarella sticks at The Onion were good!;

2) What a great afternoon of volleyball I'd just watched.

The five-set consolation semifinal between Kamiakin and Southridge that decided a state berth was the best match I'd seen all season. All the ups and downs of volleyball were on display, and the Suns ended up just five points better -- including the four in the final set that earned them only their second state berth ever.

Sports can end up leaving you with a lot of what ifs?, and the Braves finished their season with a big one: What if Kristi Beyer hadn't blown out her knee in our regular-season match against Southridge?

Kamiakin showed incredible heart to come back from her injury and to get thisclose to getting back to state without Beyer, one of the CBBN's best middle hitters this season.

But what if she hadn't gotten hurt? Would Kamiakin have won that Southridge match and not lost at West Valley, which would have given the Braves the No. 1 district seed? How would that have changed the regional seeds?

We'll never know. What we do know is that the CBBN's best teams all year, Richland and Southridge, earned state berths, and now we'll see how they fare against the best in the state this week at Toyota Center.

I'll just urge Richland and Southridge students to take advantage of their teams having early first-round match times, get that excused absence from class and come check out their teams in action. That home-court advantage will be needed against a pair of tough first-round opponents -- Auburn Riverside, state runner-up two years ago in 3A, for the Bombers; Skyview, perennially the best team in Vancouver, for the Suns.

Interestingly, Tanya Campbell and the Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association did the rankings this week predicting how the bracket will play out. They have Richland making the state championship match, losing to Mead in the final, and Southridge losing its opener to Skyview and failing to place.

Here are the rankings (i.e., trophy predictions):

4A 1, Mead. 2, Richland. 3, Graham-Kapowsin. 4, Olympia. 5, Auburn Riverside. 6, Curtis. 7, Lewis & Clark. 8, Skyview.

3A 1, Camas. 2, Seattle Prep. 3, Mount Spokane. 4, Capital. 5, Timberline. 6, Bishop Blanchet. 7, Lakes. 8, West Valley (Yakima).

2A 1, Burlington-Edison. 2, Archbishop Murphy. 3, Fife. 4, Pullman. 5, East Valley (Yakima). 6, Selah. 7, West Valley (Spokane). 8, Lynden.

1A 1, King's. 2, Annie Wright. 3, Royal. 4, Onalaska. 5, Granger. 6, Cascade (Leavenworth). 7, Lynden Christian. 8, Chelan.

2B 1, LaConner. 2, Tekoa-Oakesdale. 3, La Salle. 4, Colfax. 5, NW Christian (Colbert). 6, Toutle Lake. 7, Darrington. 8, Bear Creek.

1B 1, North Sound Christian. 2, Thorp. 3, Crescent. 4, Wilson Creek. 5, Northport. 6, Almira/Coulee-Hartline. 7, LaCrosse-Washtucna. 8, St. John-Endicott.

Finally, for those of you who are interested, here are the all-league football and volleyball teams for the CWAC and SCAC East that were released Monday:

QB -- Ethan Sterkel, sr., Ellensburg. RB -- Jacob Massey, sr., Grandview; Cody Nickoloff, jr., Wapato; Isaac Anderson, soph., Prosser. WR -- Kramer Ferrell, jr., Ellensburg; Dominic Garza, jr., Prosser; Quincy Davis, sr., Selah. TE -- Blaze Affholter, sr., Ellensburg. C -- Grant Wilcox, sr., Ellensburg; Jusdin Lynch, sr., Othello. G -- Jesse Espinoza, sr., Othello; Nate Meeske, sr., Prosser. T -- Jake Lunceford, sr., Selah; Kyle Matthews, sr., Ellensburg.

DL -- Jake Lunceford, sr., Selah; Conor Hamilton, sr., Othello; Blaze Affholter, sr., Ellensburg; Nate Meeske, sr., Prosser. ILB -- Isaac Alaniz, sr., Grandview; Daniel Walker, sr., Othello. OLB -- Eddie Garza, jr., Othello; Bobby Riddle, jr., Ellensburg; Stephen Stein, sr., Ellensburg. DB -- Devon Lind, sr., Othello; Quincy Davis, sr., Selah; Dominic Garza, jr., Prosser; Ethan Sterkel, sr., Ellensburg.

PK -- Caleb Buck, sr., East Valley. Punt -- Jesse Chavez, sr., Wapato. KR -- Devon Lind, sr., Othello.

Ethan Sterkel, sr., Ellensburg.

Devon Lind, sr., Othello.

Randy Affholter, Ellensburg.

QB -- Jeremy Cerrillo, sr., Othello. RB -- Carlos Ramirez, jr., Toppenish; Breck Webley, sr., Quincy; Parker Davis, sr., Othello. WR -- Devon Lind, sr., Othello; Chris Brunetti, sr., Othello; Jose Lara, sr., Grandview. C -- Cameron Grohs, sr., Prosser. G -- Tyler Morris, sr., Ellensburg; Justin Lamson, sr., Selah. T -- Adrian Garcia, jr., Othello; Nic Diaz, sr., Othello; Kody Hartley, sr., Prosser.

DL -- Kyle Matthews, sr., Ellensburg; Shawn Thompson, sr., Selah; Joe Kelleher, sr., Ellensburg; CJ Garza, sr., Othello. ILB -- Tyler Morris, sr., Ellensburg; Travis Luke, sr., Selah. OLB -- Carlos Ramirez, jr., Toppenish. DB -- Kramer Ferrell, jr., Ellensburg; Sungyoung Lee, jr., Ellensburg; Cody Nickoloff, jr., Wapato; Camdon Ashby, sr., Selah.

PK -- Daniel Hernandez, soph., Selah. Punt -- Jeremy Cerrillo, sr., Othello. KR -- Jose Lara, sr., Grandview.

QB -- Matt Wilhelm, sr., River View. RB -- Matt Hadley, soph., Connell; Chance Watt, jr., River View; Dyrel Whitby, sr., Connell. WR -- Ben Singer, sr., Royal; Brendan Hoch, sr., River View; Bryant Anderson, jr., Connell. TE -- Eric Farnworth, jr., River View. OL -- Michael Casper, sr., Connell; Scott Borgens, sr., Connell; Kyle Raymur, sr., River View; Ernie Garza, sr., Royal; Tanner Whitaker, soph., Royal. PK -- Rafael Mendoza, sr., River View.

DL -- Cody Crockett, sr., Connell; Rex Lyle, jr., Connell; Jarred Youngblood, sr., Kiona-Benton; Ernie Garza, sr., Royal. LB -- Michael Casper, sr., Connell; Dyrel Whitby, sr., Connell; Dylan DeLay, jr., Royal; Kris Welch, jr., River View. DB -- Matt Hadley, soph., Connell; Jordan Cox, sr., River View; Makai Hirai, sr., Wahluke; Shane Didier, sr., Connell. Punt -- Jon McGreevey, sr., Columbia (Burbank).

Matt Hadley, soph., Connell.

Dyrel Whitby, sr., Connell.

Wayne Riner, Connell.

QB -- Nate Martinez, sr., Connell; Marc Albertson, sr., Royal. RB -- Forest Gordon, jr., Burbank. WR -- Jon McGreevey, sr., Burbank; Hayden Wing, jr., Kiona-Benton; Shane Didier, sr., Connell. TE -- Dalton Morgan, soph., Kiona-Benton. OL -- Chad Davis, sr., Burbank; Rex Lyle, jr., Connell; Cody Crockett, sr., Connell; Randy Fishman, jr., River View; Frank Leitz, soph., Royal; Nate Stott, sr., Warden. PK -- Ivan Barragan, jr., Connell.

DL -- Clint Wiltse, sr., Wahluke; Bryant Anderson, jr,. Connell; Berto Edeza, jr., Royal; Justin Kincade, sr., Royal. LB -- Mike Salyers, sr., Kiona-Benton; Eric Farnworth, jr., River View; Kris Rice, sr., Royal; Chandler Salisbury, soph., Connell. DB -- Hayden Wing, jr., Kiona-Benton; Shaq Ledezma, jr., Royal; Nathan Brown, sr., Warden; Brady Quinton, sr., Connell. Punt -- Dyrel Whitby, sr., Connell.

OH -- Erin Smith, sr., Selah; Mercedes Yates, sr., East Valley; Annie Martinez, sr., East Valley. MB -- Kaitlin Quirk, jr., Ellensburg; Adriana Ramos, jr., Grandview. S -- Payton Parrish, fr., Grandview; Taylor Flores, jr., Prosser. Libero -- Veronica Sanchez, sr., Selah.

Erin Smith, sr., Selah.

Darci Dekker, East Valley.

Hitters -- Kendra DeHoog, soph., Ephrata; Bailey Carlson, sr., Ellensburg; Kylee Mollotte, sr., Othello; AJ Yarlott, sr., Wapato. Setter -- Jamie Alliston, sr., Selah. Liberos -- Koni Larimer, sr., Ellensburg; Dani Najera, sr., East Valley; Gabby Sauve, jr., Grandview.

Michelle McCary, sr., L, Connell; Page Woodward, sr., OH/S, Royal; Tiffany Idler, jr., RS, Columbia (Burbank); Caitlin Paysse, jr., MH, Royal; Leslie Brown, sr., S, Royal; Alyssa Castilleja, jr., OH/S, Kiona-Benton; Brooke Gibbons, jr., MH, Connell; Lexi Peterson, sr., MH, Wahluke.

Page Woodward, sr., Royal.

Ashley Roberts, Royal.

Devin Melville, jr., L, River View; Lacy Goroski, sr., MH, Royal; Jessica Small, sr., MH, Kiona-Benton; Kacey Kisler, sr., MH, Warden; Laryn Wells, jr., S, Connell; Crystal Clyde, jr., OH, Connell; Hannah Pierce, sr., S, Burbank.

That's enough for a night off.

Til next time ...