SPSL District Volleyball | Kentwood stops Rogers, keeps rolling

COVINGTON — Bil Caillier chooses his words carefully.

No bulletin-board material from this guy, as a general rule.

But the Kentwood volleyball coach got fired up Saturday when asked about his team's attitude heading into the Class 4A state tournament next weekend in Kennewick.

"We're going over there to win every damn game we play. That's our goal," Caillier said.

The second-ranked Conquerors (32-0) placed fourth at state last year, with their lone loss of the season coming against Mead of Spokane, the four-time defending champion. They gave themselves a good send-off Saturday by drilling No. 7 Rogers of Puyallup in the championship match of the West Central 4A District tournament at Kentwood, 25-18, 25-15, 25-23. It was a much more dominant performance than the one they had against Rogers in the title match of the South Puget Sound League tournament a week earlier, a 3-1 victory.

"We didn't feel we played to our potential," senior Bre Boyce said.

Rogers (26-5-2) had not lost a game in the tournament and was primed to end a five-match skid against Kentwood dating to last season. But the Conquerors broke an 11-all tie in the first game and never looked back, with Jessie Genger and Boyce each collecting five of their 11 kills.

"It was really important for us to come out strong," Genger said. "We hadn't been doing it in some of our other matches."

Lauren Campbell added 10 kills and Savannah Feist had eight as the Conquerors continued to show their balance, with setter Stephanie Shumaker distributing 34 assists. Rogers could not find a rhythm until the third game, and Kentwood pulled that one out, too. Coach Mandy Flores-Handley was mystified.

"That [Rogers] team that played the first two games was not the team that played this whole tournament," she said. "We coaches were going, 'Who is this team?' "

Ashleigh Pollard had 13 kills, but wasn't nearly as dominant at the net as she was the week before.

Kentwood, ranked No. 18 nationally, can now focus on state and a potential showdown with Mead, which is No. 17. The Conquerors, who have placed in the top eight in each of the past three tourneys, haven't forgotten last year's five-game loss.

"It's kind of a chip on our shoulder we want to take care of," Genger said.

The SPSL had a good showing Saturday, sweeping five of the six state berths as Curtis of University Place finished third, Kentlake fourth and Puyallup sixth. Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma, the No. 1 team out of the Narrows League, got the fifth seed.

"It shows just how strong the SPSL is," Curtis coach Jeff Grosshans said after the Vikings earned their first state berth since 1978.

Kentlake's only loss in the tournament came against Kentwood in the quarterfinals, and the Falcons gained confidence by taking a game off the Conquerors for the first time in three matches this season. Kentwood has lost only three games all season. The Falcons (21-11) then survived loser-out contests against Bethel and Olympia to earn a third straight trip to state.

Other tournaments

• At Auburn Mountainview, Auburn Riverside swept Camas to capture the West Central 3A/Southwest District championship, 25-21, 29-27, 25-16. It was the 15th consecutive victory for the third-ranked Ravens (31-3). Brooke Bray (12 kills, 5 ½ blocks, 8 digs) and Dominika Kristinikova (20 kills, 22 assists, 3 aces) led the way. Camas, ranked No. 6, had won 17 in a row after beating No. 5 Kennedy in the semifinals. Those three advance to state along with Auburn Mountainview, Sumner, Timberline and Enumclaw.

• At Jackson High in Mill Creek, Shorecrest bounced back after dropping the first game to beat Mount Vernon, 23-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-12 in the championship match of the Northwest District 3A tournament. The Scots earned the district's top seed to state, while Mount Vernon earned the No. 2 spot after beating Meadowdale in a five-game loser-out match.

• At South Whidbey High, Archbishop Murphy beat Cedarcrest to earn a state berth out of the Northwest 2A District, then the Wildcats beat Mount Baker to get the third of four seeds.

• Host King's beat Nooksack Valley 25-13, 25-11, 25-18 in the title match of the 1A bidistrict tournament, earning the top seed to the state tournament.

• At Marysville-Pilchuck, Kamiak swept Monroe, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19, to win the Northwest District 4A tournament and earn the top seed to state. Monroe gets the second seed, while Edmonds-Woodway swept consecutive loser-out matches against Jackson and Marysville-Pilchuck to get the third — and final — spot.