High school volleyball state roundup: 4A Olympia, 3A North Thurston fall in semifinals
SATURDAY (NOV. 18)
WIAA State Championships
Yakima Valley SunDome
BRACKETS
4A
THIRD-PLACE GAME
No. 1 Olympia 3, No. 10 Lake Stevens 1
25-13, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22
The Bears dominated the opening set and cruised past Lake Stevens for third-place honors in Yakima.
No. 10 Lake Stevens upset No. 2 Camas in Friday night’s quarterfinal round, and fell Saturday morning to eventual-champion Wenatchee in the semifinal, 3-1.
SEMIFINALS
No. 4 North Creek 3, No. 1 Olympia 2
25-17, 25-13, 26-28, 15-25, 17-15
The Bears rallied from a two-set deficit but dropped the fifth, a near-momentous comeback that fell just short in Saturday’s semifinal.
Olympia’s title bid ends just after the Bears eliminated rival-Puyallup in a five-set, quarterfinal thriller on Friday night.
Olympia meets No. 10 Lake Stevens for third-place honors on Saturday afternoon in Yakima.
3A
THIRD-PLACE GAME
No. 2 Lynnwood 3, No. 1 North Thurston 0
25-20, 25-19, 27-25
Lynnwood rebounded from a semifinals loss to beat North Thurston in Saturday’s third-place game — a sweep of a top-ranked Rams program that began its season 22-0.
North Thurston exits Yakima with fourth-place honors.
SEMIFINALS
No. 4 Lake Washington 3, No. 1 North Thurston 0
25-22, 25-19, 25-23
The bracket’s top seed falls in the semifinals: Lake Washington swept No. 1 North Thurston in Yakima, the first program to upend the Rams all season en route to Saturday night’s state championship.
The Kangaroos swept consecutive state opponents from the South Sound — No. 12 Auburn Riverside (Friday) and top-ranked North Thurston — to advance.
North Thurston’s perfect season ends two matches shy of a title. A third-place trophy is still within reach when the Rams meet No. 2 Lynnwood inside the Yakima Valley SunDome at 3:30 p.m.
FRIDAY (NOV. 17)
4A
QUARTERFINALS
No. 1 Olympia 3, No. 8 Puyallup 2
23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 15-12
Olympia outlasted Puyallup in Friday night’s thriller — a five-set, down-to-the-wire showdown between SPSL rivals in the state quarterfinals.
Puyallup forced a deciding fifth set at the Yakima Valley SunDome before Olympia, the bracket’s top seed, emerged in the final moments to advance.
Already District 3/4 champions, Olympia will play in Saturday’s semifinals in Yakima, now two wins away from a state title. The Bears meet a No. 4 North Creek program that swept both Friday opponents in straight sets (Tahoma, Kamiakin).
Curtis remains in contention for fifth place, and meets an undetermined opponent in a loser-out meeting Saturday at 8 a.m.
No. 3 Wenatchee 3, No. 6 Curtis 1
25-10, 25-14, 18-25, 27-25
Wenatchee’s dominance in the opening sets (25-10, 25-14) earned a commanding 2-0 lead, too much for Curtis to overcome in Friday night’s 4A quarterfinal in Yakima.
The Vikings avoided a sweep but fell in a fourth set that eliminated Curtis from title contention. Wenatchee advances to the “final four” on Saturday.
Curtis moves to the consolation ladder, and with a win Saturday, would guarantee a sixth-place finish, at least. Two wins earn fifth place.
CONSOLATION LADDER
No. 13 Tahoma and No. 15 Bellarmine Prep advanced through the lower bracket Friday and remain in contention for as high as a seventh-place state finish.
Both programs lost in the opening round but later rebounded Friday in loser-out meetings to guarantee another day at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Bellarmine Prep handled No. 7 Gonzaga Prep, 3-1, and Tahoma swept No. 12 Eastlake in the consolation ladder to move on.
3A
No. 1 North Thurston 3, No. 8 Prairie 1
25-23, 25-27, 26-24, 25-23
The bracket’s top seed lives on.
No. 1 North Thurston held off Prairie in four narrow sets Friday night — each decided by two points — in a competitive 3A quarterfinal at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The clock nearly struck midnight before North Thurston’s Alexis Meyer delivered the match-sealing kill and the Rams jumped for joy.
North Thurston hoisted the District 3/4 3A trophy last week, remains undefeated (22-0), and is now semifinals-bound.
“(We have) a desire to keep winning and never give up,” North Thurston coach Jackie Meyer said. “This team… I mean, I don’t think they’re unbeatable. I would never say that. But they just find ways to win. They play for each other and they find ways to win.”
Saturday’s 3A semifinals await top-ranked North Thurston and No. 4 Lake Washington. No. 2 Lynnwood and No. 3 Mead meet in the adjacent semifinal, meaning each of the top four seeds remain.
North Thurston’s semifinal begins at noon Saturday.
No. 4 Lake Washington 3, No. 12 Auburn Riverside 0
25-14, 25-14, 25-22
Lake Washington swept Auburn Riverside inside the Yakima Valley SunDome late Friday night, a dominant performance that lifted the Kangaroos into Saturday’s 3A semifinals.
Lake Washington raced to double-digit margins in the opening sets and fended off the Ravens more than eight hours after both programs won in the first round.
The Kangaroos’ meet an undetermined opponent in the state semifinals Saturday at noon.
Auburn Riverside’s title run ends after upsetting No. 5 Seattle Prep via sweep, 3-0, in Friday’s opening round. The Ravens can secure a fifth-place finish with wins in Saturday’s consolation ladder.
CONSOLATION LADDER
A pair of Gig Harbor programs — No. 9 Gig Harbor and No. 19 Peninsula — won consolation meetings Friday that guarantee Saturday competition in Yakima.
The Seahawks and Tides need wins over No. 7 Liberty (Issaquah) and No. 5 Seattle Prep, respectively, to set up a seventh-place match between the crosstown rivals on Saturday night. A win for either program in earlier contests would guarantee eighth place.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 11:10 PM.
