The Camas Papermakers did not want a repeat of the past two seasons.
Well, actually, they did.
And they didn’t. Understand?
The Papermakers won the Class 3A District 4 volleyball tournament over Prairie for the third year in a row Tuesday, taking down the Falcons in three games.
This time, though, the Papermakers won it as the regular-season champions.
The past two seasons, Prairie had won the league title only to see the Papermakers exact some revenge at the district tournament. Prairie was hoping to turn the tables on Camas this year.
“We didn’t want that to happen,” Camas sophomore Brindl Langley said. “We wanted to sweep Prairie. We wanted to be undefeated.”
What they wanted, they got, winning the district trophy 25-17, 26-24, 25-15 Tuesday at Mountain View High School.
Langley had five aces and nine service points — before Prairie even got a chance to serve in the first game — setting the tone for the rest of the match.
“I wanted to let everyone know Camas was in the building,” Langley said.
By everyone, the Papermakers mean the rest of the state.
“Our goal was to send a message tonight,” Camas coach Julie Nidick said. “The people in the north have an attitude that there is no volleyball in Southwest Washington. We wanted to send a message that we’re definitely the team to beat from Southwest Washington.”
Camas and Prairie, along with Columbia River and Kelso, all qualified for this week’s bi-district tournament, where they will try to qualify for the state tournament. As the district champion, Camas earned a first-round bye in that 16-team bi-district field.
Stefani Sorensen led Camas with 15 kills, including seven in the third game. She also had three consecutive aces in that final game of the match.
“I was thinking to myself that this might be the last time we play Prairie or any other team from around here. I wanted to give it everything I had,” Sorensens said. “We started getting on a roll. It was really amazing for us.”
Langley ended up with 15 service points in the match, including eight aces. Kelsy Benton added five kills and two blocks for the Papermakers. Setter Marleen de Zoete had 31 assists and contributed three kills and two blocks.
The 9-0 lead in the first game held, and Camas cruised to the seven-point win.
The second game was close throughout. Prairie had a four-point lead early, but it quickly turned into a one- and two-point gap until Camas prevailed 26-24. Sorensen and de Zoete each had crucial kills, and Benton had an ace in those final Camas points.
Camas jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the third game, rolling to victory.
The Papermakers improved to 13-0 against 3A Greater St. Helens League competition, 15-0 overall.
“It’s just really awesome to leave that perfect season legacy behind,” Sorensen said. “We had the chance to give everything we had in this last game (in Clark County) and prove we are the best team in Southwest Washington.”
Now the Papermakers hope to show they can beat the rest of the state, too.
