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| Published November 15, 2003 :: Home |
L-R's Perfect Run Earns Big
Trophy By SCOTT SPRUILL YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC How about finding another town to co-op with and taking this show up another class? As it stands now, Lind-Ritzville’s volleyball program knows no limits. A year after capturing the Class B title, the Broncos stormed into the SunDome for the 1A tournament and steamrolled the field with four straight 3-0 sweeps, including an overpowering 25-12, 25-19, 25-18 victory over Colfax in the championship final Saturday night. Taking quick measure of La Conner, Royal, Freeman and Colfax was an effort that left even veteran coach Kathy Sackmann in awe. “This group is like no other I’ve ever coached,” she said while her team joined Colfax and Freeman for a picture to illustrate the Northeast League’s 1-2-3 trophy haul. “Mentally and emotionally they can bring themselves to an amazing level. I teach them the ABCs but they do so much more.” Lind-Ritzville’s Tiffany Starring proved once again to have no equal at the net in this tournament, putting down a game-high 10 kills. She had the opening, tone-setting kill in the first and third games, plus the 6-foot senior middle had a pair of putaways from the back row in the final game. “To not lose a game, that’s amazing,” said the 6-foot senior middle. “Mikaela (Schmunk) put her sets right on the spot, and we played great in each game -- no letdowns.” Lind-Ritzville had faced Colfax in three previous matches and had won all three, losing only a single game in the process. But the championship match was no place to take anyone lightly. “With their heritage, no way,” Sackmann said, referring to Colfax’s four state titles, including back-to-back crowns in 2000 and 2001. “We know their ability to adjust and we know their athletes so the girls were focused in. Nobody was taking it for granted.” After losing the first game fairly quickly, Colfax had its chance in the second game. The Bulldogs kept pace through eight ties and had the game even at 16-16, but L-R cranked up the pressure and scored nine of the last 12 points. And the breakaway came not with Starring at the net but with the strong arms of Brittney Kubik and Jessica Heidenreich, a pair of seniors who played all four years for Sackmann. “Tiffany is a great athlete and gets a lot of attention, as she should,” the coach noted. “But the player who absolutely does it all for us is Jessica. I’ve had coaches tell me the key against us is to try and keep it away from No. 4 (Heidenreich) but how do you do that? She’s everywhere.” Schmunk, L-R’s senior setter, had 21 assists in the championship final. Kubik had seven blocks and Heidenreich got just about everything off the floor with 25 digs. Other than a two-point win in the first game of Saturday’s semifinal against Freeman, the closest of all the other 11 games for the Broncos was six points. Colfax’s road to the final was nearly as impressive. The Bulldogs swept Dayton and Onalaska on Friday and then defeated Burbank 23-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 in the semifinals. In Saturday’s three other placing finals, there was an odd twist -- each team that won its opening game went on to lose the match. In the final for third and sixth place, which paired the semifinal losers, Freeman dropped its first game to Burbank but charged back to win 17-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-22. Senior Kelsie LaShaw, who helped Freeman reach the championship final last year, sparked the Scotties with 22 kills, 16 digs and six blocks. Genna Pintor had 13 kills and 20 digs, and setter Tiffany Hornbeck piled up 46 assists. Kalama got a shaky start in the fourth-seventh place match but perked up for a 11-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-21 win over Onalaska. The Chinooks got 12 kills, 11 digs and three aces from junior Rashelle Davenport, and four-year starter Michelle Storedahl collected 31 assists. Onalaska’s 6-foot sophomore Amanda Durand was credited with nine kills and 22 blocks. The biggest comeback came in the match for fifth and eighth as Bellevue Christian picked itself off the floor for a five-game victory over Goldendale, 18-25, 8-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-6. BC’s 6-2 sophomore Melissa Reich showed how much of a force she’ll be in the next two years, pounding 26 kills and adding 14 blocks. Burbank and Goldendale earned two trophies for the South Central Athletic Conference.
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