West Central/Southwest 3A Volleyball | Pie-powered Mountainview gets state berth

SILVERDALE — Never underestimate the power of pie.

Not where the Auburn Mountainview volleyball team is concerned.

With the promise of a whole pie — and milkshake — per player, the Lions chewed through their two matches at the West Central/Southwest 3A bi-district tournament Saturday at the Kitsap Sun Dome to clinch a third consecutive state berth. And they did it the hard way, knocking off two of the top-ranked teams in the state to advance to next Saturday's semifinals.

They beat third-ranked Prairie 25-5, 25-20, 25-19 and No. 2 Kennedy 25-20, 25-27, 21-25, 25-20, 15-10.

"You've heard of work hard, play hard. These girls play hard and eat hard," said coach Momi Bowles, who planned to have the team bus stop at a Shari's restaurant to make good on her promise. "They love food."

And they love volleyball, something she reminded them of in the middle of the winner-to-state match with Kennedy.

"Our goal this tournament was to play for the love of the game," senior setter/hitter Megan McBride said.

And to prove they can finish the season where they started — No. 1 in the state. The Lions (28-5) were the preseason favorites to win the title, then struggled after losing middle hitter Lexi Morton to a knee injury and finished third in South Puget Sound League 3A. Saturday, they appeared to be fully back on track.

"We want to end how we started," McBride said. "We came in as No. 1, and had some ups and downs, but I know we can end up on top."

McBride and Kennedy star Ashley Eneliko, who will be roommates at Oregon State next year, went toe-to-toe in the quarterfinal. Eneliko smashed 25 kills, while McBride had 16 and 36 assists. Mountainview's Trisha Patton was the difference with 19 kills.

Sumner (23-0) had no trouble earning a third straight trip to state, dispatching Evergreen of White Center and Lakes of suburban Tacoma in straight games. Jocelyn Levig led the way with 32 kills in the two matches. And, in an SPSL show of power, unranked Enumclaw (18-12) advanced with wins over Camas and Timberline, securing a fourth consecutive state berth.

Enumclaw meets Sumner in the semifinals, while Auburn Mountainview takes on the other surprise qualifier, Union of Vancouver (22-8), which is just a second-year school. The Titans knocked off Bonney Lake and Capital.

Kennedy (25-4) and Bonney Lake (17-6) are both still alive in the consolation bracket, two of eight teams left battling for the final three state berths. Prairie, the Greater St. Helen's 3A champion, was eliminated in two straight.