Lakeside rallies to beat defending champ Colfax
Down two games to the two-time defending State 1A champions, Lakeside coach Kara Moffatt was hoping her Eagles could at least head off to the state tournament next week in Yakima feeling good about their game.
Instead, the Eagles are ecstatic, staging a comeback to knock off Colfax in five games Saturday and claim the District 6/7 Regional 1A volleyball championship and a No. 1 seed, 17-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 16-14
The state tournament begins Friday in Yakima’s SunDome.
Colfax, winner of four of the past six State 1A titles, earned the regional No. 2 seed. Chewelah, which finished third in the NEA during the regular season, knocked off Chelan to claim the third and final state berth. The Caribou Trail League will not have a representative at state.
Lakeside, the Northeast A League regular-season champion, swept a pair of matches from Colfax during the regular season.
“We won both of those matches in three games during the regular season,” Moffatt said. “But in the district tournament, they beat us in five games.
“After those first two games, I think the girls were just frustrated with the way we were playing. I just wanted them to feel good about their game and feel strong heading into state. To come back the way we did was great.”
Kelli Tikker had 18 kills, Lindsay Jelke dished out 41 assists and Val Gilroy came up with 23 digs to lead Lakeside in the championship match.
Senior Lauren Mellor had 16 kills to lead the Bulldogs, while Jordan Harazin pulled up 30 digs and Abby Bruya and Kinsey Doering both collected 22 assists.
“It takes a lot to come into a tournament like this and be ready to play three games in one day the way we did,” Moffatt said. “We came into those first couple matches with the idea that we wanted to get through them as quickly as we possibly could so we would have something left in the tank in case we needed to play another five-setter in the final.
“We train really hard all year long just to be ready for these kinds of games. I think if you talked to my girls right now, not one of them would say she was tired. Of course, adrenalin might have a little something to do with that right now.”
Chewelah, sent into the consolation bracket by Colfax in the semifinals, needed just three games to turn back Chelan, which lost to Lakeside in the second semifinal, winning 25-13, 25-21, 29-27.
Jordan Monasmith led the Cougars with 27 kills and Maddie Kernan passed out 31 assists.
Chelan was the only Caribou Trail League team to win a first-round match, knocking off Freeman in four games, 25-19, 18-25, 28-26, 26-24.
The Mountain Goats eliminated Omak in three straight games, 25-17, 25-15, 25-22, to advance to the consolation final
Chewelah eliminated Freeman in three straight to reach the consolation final, 25-21, 25-20, 25-13.