The previous two matchups didn’t matter to the Kentwood Conquerors.
Yes, Olympia defeated Kentwood twice during the regular-season – at the Kent Classic and at last week’s West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament.
But all was forgotten by Saturday night’s Class 4A state championship match, where they again met the Bears.
Kentwood led two games to one over a Bears team that was ranked No. 1 for a time, but the Conquerors fell in a five-game thriller, 25-23, 18-25, 25-14, 6-25, 13-15, at Saint Martin’s University.
“No one expected us to be here,” Kentwood co-head coach Cindy Siems said. “Olympia has beaten us a couple of times this year, so the girls have nothing to hang their heads about. They poured their hearts into that match.”
It was Kentwood’s first state title appearance since winning it all in 1986.
Kentwood, champions of the SPSL North, started the day by defeating Curtis, 3-0, in the semifinal. After Olympia grabbed a fourth-game win by dominating 25-6, Mikaela Ballou's kill down the left side helped the Conquerors jump out to a quick 8-3 lead in the fifth game. Ballou finished with a match-high 27 kills.
Olympia outside hitter Christie Colasurdo had a team-best 20 kills to lead the Bears (32-4) and finished with 74 for the tournament – including a school-record 26 kills in Friday’s five-game win over Mead.
Curtis had almost the perfect script for this weekend’s tournament. Just as the Vikings had earlier this season at the Kent Classic tournament, they faced Wenatchee, Skyline and Kentwood. A setback to Kentwood in the semifinals was the Vikings’ only hiccup. They bounced back to defeat Jackson in five games to earn third place after missing out on a trophy last season following their 2009 state championship. Curtis, which finished second to Puyallup in the SPSL South, survived a loser-out match against Graham-Kapowsin in five games just to earn a state berth.
“It’s amazing,” Curtis coach Jeff Grosshans said. “We had a tough season, but came together as a team the last two weeks.”
Puyallup swept Skyline, 25-18, 30-28, 25-22, in the fifth/sixth place match after surviving a five-game match against Mead early Saturday afternoon. Mead, winners of six state titles since 2003, went home without a state trophy for the first time since 1997.
After falling to Skyline in five games in its opening-round match Friday, Bellarmine Prep fought through the consolation round to beat Wenatchee (3-0) and Woodinville (3-0) but fell to Newport (3-1) in the seventh/eighth place match. It’s Bellarmine’s first state trophy since 2005 (sixth).
3A CHAMPIONSHIP
West Valley 3, Eastside Catholic 1
West Valley of Yakima, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A, capped off its perfect season with a 25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 25-20 win over Eastside Catholic of Sammamish, which was playing in the 3A state title match for the third time in four years. It’s the second straight year Eastside Catholic fell in the title match. The team lost to Seattle Prep in 2010.
The Rams were led by all-tournament MVP Morgan McDowell. Other West Valley players on the all-tournament team were libero Linnea Phillips and setter Julia Nathe.
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