Southridge volleyball team fighting for trip to state

The Southridge volleyball team has been in this position before: having to win two loser-out games to advance to state.

But the Suns aren’t complaining. They know how to perform under pressure, earning a third-place state trophy in 2012 and a sixth-place finish last year.

After dropping the district title game to Kamiakin last week, the Suns find themselves in the must-win game Saturday at the Class 3A District 5-8 regional tournament at Kamiakin High School.

The Braves will take on Mt. Spokane at 1 p.m. for the regional title and a berth to state. The Suns and Shadle Park follow at 3 p.m. The loser of the first match and the winner of the Southridge-Shadle Park match will play for the second seed to next week’s state tournament at Toyota Center.

“At least five of our players went through this last year,” said Suns coach John Lengphounpraseut, whose team is looking for its fourth consecutive trip to state. “They know what they need to do mentally and what to prepare for. We are a younger team than last year, but I think our confidence factor is high right now. For our senior players, this is the third time they have had to go through this. With their leadership, we are confident.”

The Suns are led by senior outside hitter/libero Makenna Behrens, who led the team with 179 kills and 309 digs.

A natural libero, Behrens moved to the net this season to fill the void left by the graduation of Jordan Mix.

“I went in thinking my team needed me to hit,” Behrens said. “It worked out. We ended the (regular) season on a five-game win streak to get to 9-5. That was a good accomplishment for us.”

Behrens and fellow senior Maddisen McNeill (125 kills, 17 blocks) set a goal to reach state all fours years, and if history repeats itself, that will happen.

“We are pretty confident,” Behrens said. “We know how to go in, and our mindset is good. We know what to do to win.”

After losing several key players off last year’s team to graduation, Lengphounpraseut knew Behrens would be the key to the team’s success this season.

“Makenna has been instrumental to our program for four years,” Lengphounpraseut said. “She is so versatile. She’s right up there with Heather Worley (2010 graduate) as to what they have meant to our program.”

4A Regionals

Richland is the lone Mid-Columbia Conference team at Saturday’s tournament at Mead High School in Spokane.

The Bombers will play Central Valley at 11 a.m., followed by University and Mead at 1 p.m.

The losers will play an elimination match at 3 p.m., with the winner getting a berth to state.

Both winning teams earn a trip to state, but will play for the regional title and state seeding at 5 p.m.

2A Crossover

Ellensburg and Selah play for the regional title. The winner is top seed to state, while the loser gets the No. 3 seed.

Prosser, the No. 4 seed from the CWAC, plays at Great Northern League champion Pullman at 1 p.m. The winner will grab the No. 2 seed to state.

Othello, the No. 3 seed from the CWAC, hosts GNL No. 2 Clarkston at 1 p.m. The winner gets the No. 4 seed to state.

The 2A state tournament is Nov. 13-14 at St. Martins University in Lacey.

SCAC District

Highland will host the event, which begins at noon Saturday with River View taking on Zillah in a loser-out match. Goldendale and Connell follow in another loser-out match at 2 p.m.

On the championship side of the bracket, Granger takes on Kiona-Benton at noon, while Columbia-Burbank and Naches Valley play at 2 p.m. The winners will play for the title and 1-2 seeding to state. The losers will move into the consolation bracket to fight for 3-4 state seeding.

The top four teams advance to state Nov. 13-14 at the Yakima SunDome.

1B District 7-9

The Touchet Indians will play Colton in a loser-out game at 10 a.m. at Colfax High School. The winner will play the winner St. John-Endicott and Garfield-Palouse in another loser-out match.

Pomeroy plays Oakesdale in the championship game at 1:30 p.m. The loser will take on the winner of the consolation bracket for the No. 2 seed to state.

State is No. 13-14 at the Yakima SunDome.

2B District 7-9

Action in the championship bracket at Asotin High School opens at 11:45 a.m. with Tri-Cities Prep taking on Northwest Christian (Game 8), and Wilbur-Creston playing Colfax (Game 7). The two winners will advance to state and will play for 1-2 seeding.

In the consolation bracket, Dayton will play Reardon, and DeSales will take on Lind-Ritzville-Sprague at 10 a.m. in loser-out matches.

The winner of the Dayton-Reardon match will play the loser of Game 8, while the loser of Game 7 will get the winner of the DeSales-LRS match.

Of the eight teams in the tournament, five will advance to state Nov. 13-14 at the Yakima SunDome.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Southridge volleyball team fighting for trip to state."