Community notebook: Area volleyball teams place high in regional tournaments

Vancouver-based Excel Northwest Volleyball Club had four teams place among the top eight in their divisions, and Clark County residents played a role in two championships recently in youth volleyball regional tournaments.

The tournaments, under the umbrella of the Columbia Empire Volleyball Association, are for teams throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. CEVA oversees more than 300 teams in four age divisions.

The local results:

• Excel’s top 18-year-old team, coached by Kelly Adams, tied for fifth place.

The roster: Morgan Ambrose, Shannon Boyle, Treneisha Doyle, Shawntel Kalliainen, Keisha Kennedy, Nicolette Nesbit, Margaret Paul, Korrie Stephenson, and Cassidy Winters.

• Excel’s 15-year-old team, coached by Lisa VanSickle, finished fourth in the U-16 division.

Players: Olivia Coale, Ryleigh Dobbins, Christina Elliott, Lauren Harris, Sophia Jacobson, Sophie Peel, Catherine Swett, Brooke VanSickle, and Abby Young.

• Excel’s 14-year-old team, coached by Kristin Robinson, tied for fifth in the region.

The players: Emma Booth, Page Heller, Christina Lundy, Genevieve Miklja, Emily Persons, Kaila Robinson, Abby Sharp, Shawni VanVessem, Ashley Watkins, Erika Weber, and Sarah Wilson.

• Excel’s 12-year-old team, coached by Denise Riggins, tied for seventh.

The roster: Olivia Ayers, Sally Bishop-Smith, Taylor Entenman, Hannah Farley, Keelie LeBlanc, Mackenzie Lewis, Zoe McBride, Sam Morris, Anika Nicoll, and Emma Riggins.

• Taylor Barrus of Skyview High School and Erin Sprowls of King’s Way Christian helped the Northwest Juniors, based in Gresham, Ore., to the championship of the 18-year-old division.

• Vancouver residents Emily Jayne and Kiki James helped Portland-based Rose City Mizuno Volleyball Club to the championship of the 14-year-old division.

Soccer teams win at state tournaments

Three Vancouver United Timbers girls soccer teams advanced in the U.S. Youth Soccer Washington State Championship Tournament.

The VUSA Timbers reached the semifinals of Girls under-14 division with a 1-0 win over a team from Greater Renton FC. The semifinal match against Northwest Nationals Red is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday. A win would put VUSA into Sunday’s 9 a.m. state final. Both matches are at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila.

VUSA Timbers teams have reached the Championship Cup quarterfinals in the under-15 and under-17 age groups. They play quarterfinal matches on Sunday, May 6. The Championship Cup is the state tournament for the most competitive youth soccer teams.

In the Washington Challenge Cup, the tournament for developmental teams, two VUSA teams advanced to the semifinals: in the girls under-14 and girls under-13 age groups. The girls under-14 semifinal is 1 p.m. Saturday at Starfire Soccer Complex, with the final at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The girls under-13 Division 1, the VUSA Timbers play at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The championship will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

• A Pacific FC Team won the girls under-12 Silver Division of the Puget Sound Premier League Washington Cup tournament. Pacific FC Blue beat the Rainier Valley Slammers 3-2 on Sunday in the tournament finale in Lacey.

Sally Houk converted a late penalty kick for the margin of victory. Tessa White and Trinity Paulsen scored first-half goals for Pacific FC.

This Pacific FC team is a select-level squad that was playing in a tournament that included some premier-level teams, according to assistant coach Tina Baertlein.

This tournament was sanctioned by U.S. Club Soccer, which is separate from U.W. Youth Soccer and the Washington Youth Soccer state tournaments. The Silver Division was the second level of the under-12 age group.Pacific FC players were Ellie Johnson, Tessa White, Gabrielle Justus, Zoë McBride, Jenna Talarico, Lauren Murray, Sally Houk, Megan Roscoe, Jennifer Baertlein, Alivia Quitugua, Miranda Reeves, Trinity Paulsen, Kayla Sills, Alisha Schmaltz, and Abby Allinger. Ken Paulsen was the head coach.

Vipers lose football game to Bellingham

The Bellingham Bulldogs beat the Clark County Vipers 44-7 on Saturday in a Pacific Football League game at Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver.

The Vipers took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter of the amateur football game, scoring on a touchdown pass from Kyle English to Vincent Gillam. But the Bulldogs scored 23 second-quarter points to take command.The Vipers (2-2 overall, 0-1 in league) next play at 6 p.m. on Saturday against the Eugene Outlaws at Willamette High School in Eugene.

King’s Way lacrosse drops pair of matches

King’s Way lacrosse lost a couple of close matches in Bellevue on Friday and Saturday and now sit in third place in its division of the Washington Boys High School Lacrosse Association.

On Friday, King’s Way lost at Lake Washington, 7-6. On Saturday, the Knights fell to Bellevue 18-5. No statistics or highlights from either match were reported to The Columbian.

King’s Way (7-6 overall, 7-3 in conference) is scheduled to finish its regular-season home schedule with matches at 8 p.m. Friday against Eastlake and at 5 p.m. Saturday against Issaquah. Both games are at Columbia River High School’s football stadium.n The Evergreen Lacrosse Club is in first place (5-5-1) in the Nisqually Conference of the Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association. ELC plays on the road on Saturday in Enumclaw against Lake Tapps.

Rugby teams lose

Lincoln-Westside edged Camas 26-22 on Saturday in an Oregon Rugby boys high school match between top teams in the league’s second division.

Also on Saturday, the Barbarians beat the Bulls 32-12 in a Division I contest in Battle Ground.

Details from the weekend matches were not reported to The Columbian.

The state playoffs are set for May 12 and May 19 at Delta Park in North Portland.

COMMUNITY SPORTS NEWS is published each Tuesday. To submit items for consideration, send an e-mail to paul.danzer@columbian.com, or call 360-735-4521. For upcoming events, check out the online Community Sports Calendar at www.columbian.com.