Storm reach 4A quarterfinals at state tournament
KENNEWICK — It won’t get a shot at the top prize.
But the Skyview volleyball team did its best to maximize its state tournament experience on Friday — including giving its best shot to one of the state’s top-rated teams.
At the end of a three-match day, the Storm came up just short of earning a trophy.
“We were definitely frustrated with our inconsistency,” Skyview senior Gabby Moritz said. “We made this day really hard for ourselves. We could’ve gotten done with matches a lot sooner. We never really got in the flow and found consistency in our game, and that’s what really hurt us.”
First the Storm outlasted Southridge of Kennewick in five games in the opening round of the Class 4A state championships at the Toyota Center.
Next they pushed Graham Kapowsin — ranked second in the state behind Mead of Spokane by the Seattle Times — to the brink in the quarterfinals before falling to the Eagles 15-11 in the deciding game.
Olympia put an end to Skyview’s season late Thursday night, beating the the tired Storm in four games in the fourth-place semifinals. Scores were 25-20, 28-30, 25-20 and 25-23.
“It’s frustrating, but we have to look at the whole season,” said Devon Brown, who led Skyview with 13 kills against Olympia. “The whole season was awesome. We can’t base our season on one long fatigued day.”
The first-round match against Southridge was close throughout, with the teams trading wins in each game, but the quarterfinal battle with Graham Kapowsin was an uphill fight for the Storm.
Graham Kapowsin took the first two games, 25-19 and 25-18, and the Storm couldn’t seem to answer the Eagles quick-set attacks.
But Skyview coach Cheyanne Knight shuffled her lineup and the Storm’s own attack finally found its stride midway through the third game. With Moritz and Taylor Barrus making some big hits, the Storm built a 21-14 lead, then held off a late surge to win 25-23. Buoyed by that success, the Storm controlled the fourth set to win 25-14.
“It’s momentum. Our girls, when we have the momentum, we’re unstoppable,” Graham Kapowsin coach Loni Parks said. “Skyview’s a good team, and we made too many mistakes and quit attacking.”
But, thanks to some aggressive swings from the Eagles early in the deciding set, the momentum swung back to Graham Kapowsin at the start of the fifth set. The Eagles (31-4 including tournaments) jumped out to a 5-1 lead, and the Storm was never closer than two points.
“I didn’t even get to say anything” before the fifth set, Parks said. “They were so riled up and so ready to go knowing that this was it.”
Barrus had 14 kills, two blocks and 18 digs to lead the Storm against Graham Kapowsin. Moritz had 11 kills and 11 digs in the quarterfinal match.
Kayla Reno led the Eagles with 25 kills, five blocks, and 22 digs.
In the first-round win, Devon Brown led the Storm with 16 kills and 18 digs. Amber Aguiar made 21 digs.
Knight said her squad just ran out of energy at the end of the day, losing in four close games to a more rested Olympia team in the loser-out round.
“I think we were mentally and emotionally drained from the Graham Kapowsin match, because we pushed so hard to get to that fifth game,” Knight said. “Then when we lost it, we didn’t recover as well as I would have liked to recover.
“But, it’s a learning experience. We’re pretty young. Hopefully they realize what they can do and how hard they can compete and we’ll be back next year.”
