By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Zillah volleyball coach Erin Aumavae and her best player, Tefani Uasike, each expected something this year.

And it certainly wasn't this.

After seven seniors graduated off last year's eighth-place state-tourney team, getting back to the 1A tournament seemed like a long shot at best.

"Actually, after graduation last summer, I thought we weren't really going to make it to state," said Uasike, a senior outside hitter who was one of the SCAC West's best players this season.

"But as we went through tryouts and into the season, I realized we were just as good as last year."

It didn't take Aumavae long, either. "We stepped into tryouts at the beginning of the year and my eyes were wide open," she recalled. "We thought, wow, there's a lot of potential here."

And after a season Aumavae described as being "like a rollercoaster ride," the Leopards are back.

So, too, is Goldendale, which also graduated seven seniors off the 2005 squad that captured the fourth-place state trophy.

"It's a big achievement for these kids after losing so much (from) last year," said Timberwolves coach Jodi Bellamy, whose daughter, Kylee, was one of four Goldendale sophomores and juniors to earn first- or second-team all-SCAC West honors.

Both SCAC West teams have drawn first-round opponents who have less-than-daunting state-tournament pedigrees.

Goldendale's foe, Castle Rock, was a powerhouse in the 1980s and 1990s, when the Rockets made 16 state trips and captured two championships. But they haven't qualified since 1999 — having been in the 2A ranks and butting heads with perennial powers Woodland and Ridgefield in league play — and fourth-year Castle Rock coach Tiffaney Golden admits, "Varsity experience-wise, we're really young."

Cascade Christian, which will face Zillah at 10 a.m., has reached the tourney only twice (the last time in 1999) and has yet to win a match.

But the Cougars' underdog credentials go even further: A year ago, playing with an almost entirely freshman-and-sophomore squad, they won only two Emerald City League matches. This year they went 9-3 in league play.

"It's funny, because it's been a surprise to everybody, including ourselves," said Cascade Christian coach Chris Bannon, whose two best players are sophomore outside hitters Hannah Velling (the Emerald City MVP) and Brooke Nelson.

"Everywhere we go and win, people are like, who, look at that."

In a sense, the Cougars are more experienced at the varsity level than Zillah. But the Leopards are accustomed not just getting to state, but getting trophies there — as they have done five times since 1999.

"We're really excited to be there, because we have a pretty young team," said Uasike, noting that the Leopards' freshman libero, Christina Slack, has been playing sensationally. "She has a big job, and we rely on her to dig everything — because we know she can."

But if the Leopards are to reach their goal — "We want to make it to Saturday," Uasike said, it will be up to seniors like Uasike and fellow first-team all-SCAC West performer Joelle Patterson to make it happen.

"We need to finish and finish strong," Aumavae said. "We start out great, but we need to walk in ready to compete."