Prep Volleyball | Curtis defends its 4A district title

COVINGTON — Emily Cotter doesn't cotton to playing second fiddle.

After finishing behind Graham-Kapwosin in the South Puget Sound League South Division, the third-ranked Curtis Vikings were determined to defend their title in the West Central District 4A volleyball tournament Saturday at Kentwood.

They did just that, beating No. 8 Olympia in the championship match, 21-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-19.

"We wanted this so bad," said Cotter, an outside hitter. "We didn't get to win league, so we wanted to come out and prove we're the top dogs and we deserve this."

Curtis beat No. 4 Auburn Riverside in the semifinals, 25-19, 25-21, 25-19. Olympia drilled Tahoma in the other semi, 25-17, 25-11, 25-18 and had not dropped a set in the tournament before running into Curtis. All four had clinched state berths on Friday.

Riverside (24-7) rebounded to earn the No. 3 seed with a 3-0 win over Tahoma (17-16) as 6-foot-1 senior Brooke Bray had 31 kills.

"Every day, my kids keep getting better," Riverside coach Chris Leverenz said, noting Bray is her only player with state experience.

Tahoma, which upset second-ranked Graham-Kapowsin in Friday's first round and went on to clinch its first state berth since 1978, advances as the No. 6 seed.

Kentwood (19-11), which lost to Olympia in the quarterfinals, worked its way through the consolation bracket to earn a sixth consecutive state trip. The Conquerors eliminated two Tacoma teams Saturday, Bellarmine Prep and Stadium.

"It's been an up and down year," coach Bil Caillier said. "We had a good enough tournament to get to state."

The most exciting match of the tournament proved to be Saturday's loser-out battle between Graham-Kapowsin and No. 6 Gig Harbor. In a packed side gym with some 400 spectators, G-K won a 2 ½-hour thriller 33-31, 23-25, 23-25, 27-25, 15-11. The Eagles were two points from elimination in the fourth set, trailing 23-17, but fought back.

"We refused to lose," said senior Kayla Reno, who amassed 35 kills. "We felt we wanted it more than they did. We had our mind set on going to state. We were not going to let anyone get in our way."

The Eagles (29-3) still had to win one more match to get there and followed with a 3-0 victory over Puyallup to earn the school's first berth in its five-year history. They then won a coin flip with Kentwood to determine the fourth and fifth seeds.