Kamiakin snags state volleyball berth; Southridge’s season over

The Kamiakin Braves punched their ticket to the state volleyball tournament Saturday with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 victory over Shadle Park at Kamiakin High School.

The Braves (15-8) earned the second seed from District 5-8 and will open state play Friday at Toyota Center. Their opponent and game time will be announced Sunday.

Kamiakin, which lost the regional title game to Mt. Spokane, rallied from a 14-8 deficit in the first set to forge a 14-all tie. Kennedy Sarver served up 10 consecutive points to give the Braves a 19-14 lead.

The Highlanders pulled within 24-22, but an illegal hit by Shadle Park gave the Braves the win.

Trailing 5-4 in the second set, Jill Sands reeled off five points for a 9-5 lead. Allison Stapleton and Leanna Shymanski did a ton of damage at the net during the set, with Stapleton laying down seven kills and Shymanski five kills and four blocks.

Shymanski drove her final kill of the set down the heart of the Highlanders’ defense to secure the win.

In the third set, Madison Judy wailed on the ball to the tune of six kills as the Braves went up 20-16. Shymanski had the final word with a kill on match point.

“To be honest, we were frustrated about the way we played against Mt. Spokane,” said Stapleton, who finished with 13 kills. “In this match, if we made a mistake, we let it go. Our mentality was different.”

Shymanski added 11 kills and eight blocks, while Judy had 10 kills.

“We feed off each other’s energy,” Stapleton said of Judy. “They couldn’t stop us.”

Kamiakin coach Morgan Schauble said her team’s mindset against Shadle Park was different than in the match against Mt. Spokane.

“We talked about controlling our game, playing with energy and playing for each other,” Schauble said.

3A REGIONAL TITLE GAME: Mt. Spokane got 14 kills from Adrienne Dotson and played strong defense as a team to sweep Kamiakin and win its first regional title since 2012.

“They played really well,” Wildcats coach Dave Whitehead said. “We have been so close the last couple of years.”

The Wildcats (19-11) took an early lead in the first set and never trailed. They had leads of 19-13 and 23-17 down the stretch before Dotson tipped the ball over the net for the win.

The Braves had control of the second set, jumping out to leads of 7-3 and 19-16. Kamiakin took a 23-22 lead on a Mt. Spokane unforced error, but a kill by Bailey Ricard and a block by Kaitlyn Streltzoff and Kelly Brown gave the Wildcats a 24-23 lead.

After the Braves forged a 25-all tie, Ricard laid down a kill for the lead, and when Leanna Shymanski’s hit for Kamiakin rolled off the net and out of bounds, the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead.

Kamiakin was within striking distance in their set, trailing just 19-17 late in the match.

Streltzoff put up a block on Shymanski to pull the Wildcats to match point, and Brown served up an ace for the win.

“The key was serve receive,” Whitehead said. “We do a lot of serve receive and serving, and we are getting better. We play in a tough league (Greater Spokane League), and that really builds us. I’m really proud of all of them.”

SHADLE PARK 3, SOUTHRIDGE 1: The Highlanders overcame 33 unforced errors to eliminate the Suns from regional play.

Southridge (14-9) sought its fourth consecutive trip to state, but it fell short as it failed to hold the lead when it was up 24-21 in the fourth set. SP rallied from a 16-11 deficit to pull even at 20 and 24. Hailee Etter served up an ace for match point.

“The height of Shadle Park gave us some trouble at the net,” Suns coach John Lengphounpraseut said. “We played pretty tough, but their net play overtook us. My players competed hard. Unfortunately, we came up short.”

A serving rotation violation helped put the Highlanders in a 5-2 hole to open the match, but after a 20-20 tie, SP took a 23-20 lead. The Suns came back, and the teams traded leads until Josey Kinder’s tip found the floor for set point.

The Highlanders cruised to a 25-16 win in the second set, but it was all Southridge in the third.

Kayla Conrad reeled off eight consecutive points for a 15-8 lead, and Maddisen McNeill went on a seven-point tear to open up a 23-10 lead.

Etter brought the Highlanders back to within 23-16 before the Suns closed out the set.

“We had a chance to win the first, but we didn’t take care of it,” Lengphounpraseut said. “In the third, I made some lineup changes and mixed up the offense. In the fourth, we did what we were supposed to to do, but we lost our head a little toward the end. Give Shadle Park credit, they never gave up.”

Makenna Behrens led the Suns with 20 kills and 26 digs. Riley Hebdon added 13 kills, and Kamaile Moody handed out 41 assists.

Abby Stolz had 13 kills and three blocks for the Highlanders, while Etter chipped in with nine kills and 21 digs.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Kamiakin snags state volleyball berth; Southridge’s season over."