Auburn Riverside dumps Holy Names, reaches 3A volleyball semis

The general tendency on the first day of the 3A/4A state volleyball tournament Friday at the Toyota Center, even among those teams advancing into today’s semifinal round, was start slow, settle down and finish strong. Whatever the reason — the long drive to the Tri-Cities, early start times, or adolescent nerves — nearly every team that advanced Friday had to overcome a slow start to do so.

Auburn Riverside won its 3A quarterfinal 3-1 over No. 3 Holy Names, advancing with a thrilling 22-25, 25-8, 25-17, 27-25 victory. The difference for the Ravens was the versatility of Auburn Riverside’s big hitters versus the athleticism of Holy Names Academy’s Angelou Dutton. The fifth-ranked Ravens will play Kennedy Catholic in the 3A semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“All of our main hitters can do a lot of different things,” Auburn Riverside coach Chris Leverenz said. The Ravens used a clever combination of spikes and dinks at the net from Kasey Holand, Calley Heilborn, Anna Maracich and Kiana Drumheller to confound Holy Names.

Puyallup was the biggest surprise of the first round. The Vikings defeated Inglemoor, 3-0, to advance to the 4A quarterfinals. Local teams joining Puyallup in the quarters were No. 4 Bellarmine, No. 2 Curtis and Emerald Ridge.

Bellarmine Prep, the three-time defending 4A state champion, beat Jackson, 3-1, in the first round before losing a late quarterfinal match against top-ranked West Valley (Yakima), 3-1. It was tied at a set a piece before West Valley won the final two, 25-21, 25-21.

But a pair of 4A SPSL South team — Emerald Ridge and Curtis, have advanced to the 4A semifinals. Emerald Ridge sent Puyallup to the consolation round with a 3-0 win in the quarterfinals and Curtis swept Mead after sweeping Eastlake in the first round.

Emerald Ridge faces West Valley (Yakima) in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday, while Curtis faces Battle Ground in the other semis. Both are in the Final Four for the second year in a row, with Emerald Ridge hoping to reach the title for the second consecutive year.

Now, back to 3A.

Whenever Holy Names needed a point they nearly always went directly to Dutton, who seemed to be hovering above the net all night. In the pivotal final set, after the Ravens had erased a 23-18 deficit to tie the score, Holy Names had Dutton running from one side of the court to the other as the team tried to get her the ball in the most favorable location.

“We kept talking about swinging hard to make it harder for them to get the ball to her,” Leverenz said.

In its first-round match, Auburn Riverside survived a slow start and a scare from a determined Eastside Catholic team, but got on track for a 3-1 win to advance the quarterfinals. The Ravens were inconsistent in the first set, but were able to hang on for a 25-22 win.

“It was a relief (to have the first set out of the way),” Leverenz said. “The kids were a little nervous and we didn’t play our best volleyball.”

After Eastside Catholic won the second set, Auburn Riverside settled down to take the final two games by identical 25-19 scores.

Auburn Mountainview opened the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Shorewood, after winning the first set, 25-19, and then losing a heartbreaker in the second set, 27-29.

“Both teams picked it up in the second game,” Lions coach Telia Peterson said. “I definitely think it would have been different (if we’d won the second sets). We’ve prepared mentally to play double games in one day. We’ll just move forward from here.”

Auburn Mountainview moved forward with a 3-1 win over Kamiakin to remain alive in the trophy round. They will face Ferndale at 9 a.m. today.

Tahoma and Graham-Kapowsin both lost their first-round games, then survived a tough challenge in their second match. Tahoma beat Eastlake, 3-1, in the elimination round, and will play another loser-out game Saturday at 11.

Graham-Kapowsin lost to Monroe in the first round and then beat Eisenhower in a tense five-set match, beating the Cadets 15-11 in the deciding set after leading 12-5.

Enumclaw lost to Holy Names in the first round, and then was eliminated by Eastside Catholic.

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Auburn Riverside dumps Holy Names, reaches 3A volleyball semis."