Zillah's Sierra Long, left, Rosebud Guthrie and Melissa Ivy go up for a block against Cascade Christian on Friday. The Leopards lost the match in four games.   GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic

Local 1A teams have tough opening round
 
By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

They were the "home" teams, programs that have become fixtures at Class 1A state volleyball tournaments at the SunDome. And they were playing teams that have been on the outside looking in.

But, on Friday morning, it was Goldendale and Zillah that both opened the 2006 tourney with wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights tentativeness, while their opponents -- Castle Rock and Cascade Christian, respectively -- used confident, aggressive play to send them into the losers' bracket.

But not home.

Both Valley teams came back with victories in loser-out, second-round matches to remain in trophy contention.

"We have eight new players that have never played here before, and this morning ... just jitters, or we were tired, I don't know. I know we're not used to playing in the morning," said Goldendale sophomore Kylee Bellamy after the Timberwolves' 25-17, 14-25, 25-19, 27-25 loser-out thriller over LaCenter. "Now, our seniors stepped up. They don't want to go home. They don't want the season to end."

Zillah kept its season alive with their 25-18, 20-25, 25-14, 25-21 loser-out victory over Montesano.

"We were pretty determined we were going to make it to tomorrow," Zillah's Tefini Uasike said slamming 21 kills.

But that determination had been sorely lacking against Cascade Christian, which rode the swing-for-the-fences outside hitting of sophomores Brooke Nelson (20 kills) and Hannah Velling (16 kills) to roll over the Leopards 25-17, 17-25, 25-22, 25-11.

"We came here, but did we want the win?" pondered Zillah coach Erin Aumavae, considering the first-round defeat. "That's the way this team has been all year, like a rollercoaster, and we didn't play like we wanted it. I was disappointed with that."

Against Montesano, though, the Leopards remained in control, with Rosebud Guthrie dominating at the net with three stuff blocks, Felicia Gonzales dishing out 31 assists and Uasike hammering away from the outside. Even so, Aumavae was still not overjoyed.

"I have yet to see them play to their potential here," said Aumavae, whose team will play a loser-out game at 9 a.m. Saturday against Stevenson, which got 18 Rylee Walker kills in its five-game winner over Annie Wright. "State's all about being quick. There's no time to sit around and watch. We're not taking control of it."

The same was definitely true for Goldendale in the Timberwolves' desultory performance in their 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 first-round thumping by Castle Rock.

"They whipped us," Timberwolves coach Jodi Bellamy said. "We picked a bad time to play bad. We didn't hit hard, and they did. They had one hitter that really put the ball down."

Bellamy was referring to 5-9 Emily Damschen, but the Rockets' attack was actually two-fold. Damschen and acrobatic 5-5 Lacey Seidl combined for 20 kills -- many of those coming from the back row -- as the Castle Rock hitters swung away with an aggressiveness that seemed to put the Timberwolves on their heels.

"We talked a lot about coming out strong," said Castle Rock coach Tiffaney Golden, who admitted concern that her team might come out nervous for the school's first state-tourney appearance since the 1990s. "I told them, hey, we worked all year for this, this is their goal -- let's not have any regrets."

In the end, the Timberwolves had no regrets either. After getting blown away in the second game against Montesano, they broke away from a 13-13 tie in the third game to win 25-19, and then put the Bulldogs away in the clincher with a Kylee Bellamy kill for a 26-25 lead and a well-placed tip by Sydney Bloom for the winner.

"Everybody stepped up," Kylee Bellamy said. "And I'm really glad."

Cascade Christian-Zillah leaders: CC -- Hannah Velling 16 kills, 33 digs, 5 aces; Brooke Nelson 20 kills, 19 digs; Olivia Anderson 47 digs; Jenna Carollo 35 assists, 3 aces. Zillah -- Joelle Patterson 16 digs, 4 kills, 2 blocks; Felicia Gonzales 20 assists, 11 digs, 2 aces; Tefini Uasike 7 kills, 2 blocks, 11 digs; Melissa Ivy 7 kills; Amy Moritz 11 digs, 2 aces; Shanthel Shattuck 8 digs, 1 kill.
Castle Rock-Goldendale leaders: CR -- Lacey Seidl 11 kills, 2 blocks, 13 digs; Emily Damshen 9 kills, 2 blocks, 6 aces; Heather Shulke 27 assists. Gold -- Kylee Bellamy 6 assists, 5 kills, 12 perfect passes; Whitney Wing 4 kills; Kayla Graff 4 kills, 13 digs, 11 perfect passes; Cara Southworth 10 digs.
Zillah-Montesano leaders: Zillah -- Joelle Patterson 22 digs, 5 aces, 4 kills; Tefini Uasike 21 kills, 7 digs; Melissa Ivy 10 kills, 8 digs; Felicia Gonzales 31 assists, 9 digs; Christina Slack 3 aces, 10 digs; Lauren Messmore 3 aces, 2 assists, 8 digs.
Goldendale-LaCenter leaders: LaCenter -- Catherine Martinez 26, Lynsey Grove 10 kills, 5 blocks, 5 aces, Sara Hansen 6 aces, 8 kills, 9 blocks.