West Central/ Southwest Volleyball | Mountainview upsets Sumner

SILVERDALE — They are at the peak of their game at the perfect time.

And the fourth-ranked Auburn Mountainview Lions have reason to believe they can make a run for the state title after knocking off No. 1 Sumner in the championship match of the West Central/Southwest 3A bi-district volleyball tournament Saturday night at the Kitsap Sun Dome, 16-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23.

"I knew we could do it and we did," said McBride, an Oregon-bound senior who delivered 32 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs to lead the Lions (30-5) to their first district title. "Our team doesn't settle. We wanted it. We proved to ourselves that we could go all the way."

It was the first loss of the season for Sumner (24-1), which hadn't even dropped a game in the first three rounds of the tournament.

Auburn Mountainview and Sumner both posted 3-0 semifinal victories. Mountainview beat Union of Vancouver after rallying from a 24-19 deficit in the first game and ultimately winning 26-24, 25-15, 25-15. Sumner rolled past Enumclaw, 25-19, 25-17, 25-14. The four had already nailed down state berths the weekend before.

Enumclaw (18-14) then lost to Union, 3-1, to finish sixth. Union (13-9), a second-year school, advances as the No. 3 seed.

Fifth-ranked Kennedy of Burien rebounded from the quarterfinal loss to Auburn Mountainview to win two straight Saturday and return to state for a fourth straight year. Ashley Eneliko set the pace with 28 kills, 9 blocks and 17 digs over the two matches.

"Half our team are seniors and we all wanted to go to state our senior year," Eneliko said. "All the hard work we've put it, it's all being paid off."

Lakes of Tacoma (19-8) earned its first trip to state since 1977 with a 3-0 victory over Bonney Lake.

"I can't believe it," coach Patty Hoeks said. "I still think I'm dreaming."

Camas then edged Bonney Lake for the seventh and final state berth, 3-2, denying the Panthers their first trip to state.

Class 4A District title

They came in feeling they had something to prove.

The ninth-ranked Curtis Vikings did just that, capturing their first West Central 4A District championship with a convincing 3-0 victory over Puyallup. Game scores were 25-18, 25-20, 25-18.

Curits (20-4) had lost 3-1 to Puyallup during the regular season, when outside hitter Emily Cotter was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Saturday, she paced her team with 15 kills.

"We wanted it so bad," Cotter said. "We have so much heart."

Puyallup (25-6) pulled the upset of the tournament by knocking off second-ranked Kentwood in the semifinals, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 25-27, 15-11. It was the Vikings' first appearance in the title match since 2002.

Kentwood, the two-time defending tournament champion, looked out of sync most of the tournament. The Conquerors then played Rogers of Puyallup in the match for third and sixth places. Curtis beat Rogers in the other semifinal, 25-17, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23, avenging an earlier 3-2 loss to the Rams. All four had clinched state berths on the opening day of the tourney, Nov. 7.

Becca Robbins powered Puyallup with 22 kills, while Alex Lavorato pounded 15. Liz Hasky keyed the defense with 21 digs. Puyallup coach Tony Batinovich likened the match to Puyallup's semifinal victory over Kentlake in 2002, when the Falcons were two-time defending state champions. Kentlake bounced back to win a third straight title.

"We might have just woke up a sleeping tiger," Batinovich said. "They're a good team. They're not going to take this sitting down."

Kentwood came back to beat Rogers in the match for third and sixth places, 3-1. Senior Jessie Genger said the difference for the Conquerors was having fun again.

The final two state berths went to Olympia (26-3) and Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma (20-8). Olympia, which was ranked fifth in the state before a quarterfinal loss to Curtis, breezed past Gig Harbor and Auburn Riverside in loser-out matches to return to state after a rare two-year absence.

"This is more like the way we've been playing all season," Olympia coach Laurie Creighton said after the 3-0 win over Riverside.