Kamiakin volleyball team begins quest for state championship

Kamiakin coach Morgan Schauble and her staff always seem to have her Braves volleyball team get into the state tournament.

The Braves did it for the fifth consecutive year when they recently placed second at the District 6 Class 4A tournament, falling to Gonzaga Prep 3-0 in the championship.

Schauble’s team was given a No. 6 seed in the 16-team tournament when the committee met last Sunday.

The Braves open tournament play at 9:45 a.m. on Friday (Nov. 21) in the Yakima SunDome against No. 11 Puyallup.

“It’s definitely been a blessing for us to be going again,” said Schauble, who lost some key seniors last June to graduation.

She felt this year’s squad, though, could be really good.

“We had a really good sophomore class last season, and now they’re juniors,” she said. “The girls feel relaxed.”

Kamiakin is led by three players: senior setter Bailey Vladimiroff, junior outside hitter Alexa Bilodeau, and junior libero/defensive specialist Avery Beck.

“Bailey and Alexa are the team captains,” said Schauble. “Avery plays a huge role for us on defense. She is all in and goes all out on D. She’s a big leader by example.”

The Braves went 18-2 this season and were a perfect 9-0 in Mid-Columbia Conference play.

Schauble also got the team ready for the SunDome atmosphere by playing in a non-league tournament there earlier in the fall.

Kamiakin has yet to earn a state trophy in this five-year run. This year could be different.

Bad news for MCC coaches too: the Braves only lose four players to graduation this season.

• Top three seeds for the 4A tournament: 1, Curtis; 2, Lake Stevens; 3, Gonzaga Prep.

• No MCC teams qualified for the 3A state tournament, which is also being played Friday and Saturday in Yakima.

NWAC volleyball

The Northwest Athletic Conference will hold its Elite Eight volleyball tournament championship this coming weekend at Columbia Basin College.

The East Region has half of the eight entries into this portion of postseason, with Treasure Valley, Spokane, Walla Walla and Yakima Valley involved.

While CBC didn’t get into the postseason, there will be some local talent involved in the tournament.

Playing for Bellevue College is sophomore defensive specialist/libero Malina Burke (Kamiakin graduate) and freshman outside hitter Kylee Jackson (Stanfield).

Linn-Benton features freshman outside hitter Mazie Reeser (Stanfield); while Walla Walla has freshman outside hitter/defensive specialist Bailee Cornela (Hanford).

Finally, Yakima Valley has sophomore middle hitter Sienna Black (Grandview) and freshman middle hitter Lauren Chamberlain (Warden).

Here is the weekend’s schedule: Friday, Nov. 21: Match 1, Edmonds vs. Yakima Valley, 11 a.m.; Match 2, Spokane vs. Treasure Valley, 2 p.m.; Match 3, Bellevue vs. Linn-Benton, 5 p.m.; Match 4, Rogue vs. Walla Walla, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 22 (semifinals): Match 5, winner 1 vs. winner 2, 2 p.m.; Match 6, winner 3 vs. winner 4, 5 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 23 (championship): Match 7, winner 5 vs. winner 6 (winner first, loser second), 3 p.m.

Boys soccer

Mabton lost 3-0 to Mount Vernon Christian in the 1B/2B boys state soccer tournament quarterfinals on Nov. 15.

The Vikings ended the season with a 10-6 record, and they graduate just six seniors in the spring off a roster of 24 players.

Pro soccer

McKenna Martinez — who played at Richland and attended Tri-Cities Prep, then starred at Oregon State University — re-signed with Valadares Gaia this past offseason. It is one of 10 teams in Portugal’s top women’s pro league. Martinez, however, has yet to play this season.

Meanwhile, Southridge grad Haley Thomas is a member of the Spokane Zephyr, a women’s USL team. This is her second season in Spokane. Thomas starred at Weber State and Boston College collegiately. She then played professionally in Iceland and Germany before coming back to the Northwest.

Coaching

Connell High School graduate Emma Andrewjeski Ramirez finished up her college softball career last spring with Western Washington University.

The slugger now has come home, where she’ll be the head girls softball coach this coming spring for Connell.

• Darbi Pink, who competed at Chiawana High School, has been hired as the new girls basketball coach for Connell High School.

The Eagles begin play later this month.

College basketball

Kamiakin grad Tyler Bilodeau opened his senior season at UCLA by scoring 19 points to lead the Bruins to an 80-74 men’s basketball victory over Eastern Washington University on Monday (Nov. 3).

Bilodeau, who starts at forward, was 8 for 16 shooting from the floor (3 for 6 from the 3-point line). He also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals.

• Richland High grad Kylee Fox spent her first two seasons of college playing for the Fresno State women’s basketball team.

This past offseason, Fox transferred to the West Coast Conference’s Santa Clara University.

The Broncos opened the 2025-26 season on Monday, Nov. 3, with a 108-52 victory over Stanislaus State.

Fox, a junior, started at guard and scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting (4 for 5 from the 3-point line), had 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.