Mead, LC on course for potential showdown

KENNEWICK – It’s turning into what people have wanted to see all season long: a tale of one city, two teams.

Three-time defending state champion Mead and Lewis and Clark advanced to the semifinals as the Greater Spokane League went 5-1 Friday at the State 4A volleyball tournament at the Toyota Center.

LC plays Spanaway Lake and Mead faces Redmond in today’s semifinals at 1 p.m. If both teams win, they will meet in the championship at 7 p.m.

Shadle Park plays a loser-out match at 9 a.m.

Mead and LC breezed through the first round, sweeping Monroe and Marysville-Pilchuck, respectively.

In the quarterfinals, both teams had a much tougher time advancing.

Mead’s Panthers edged a scrappy Kentlake squad 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 27-29, 15-9.

“We came up with key blocks and we were a little faster on offense,” Mead coach Judy Kight said. “We were just in this situation last week (against LC in the regional final) and we learned from it. We played with a lot more guts tonight.”

Setter Karyn Mockel finished with a stellar performance for the PanthersThe junior had 52 assists and 28 digs.

Mockel also had 33 assists and eight digs in the match against Monroe.

The Tigers were also tested by their quarterfinal opponent, Rogers (Puyallup). LC prevailed, 12-25, 25-15, 25-14, 16-25, 15-12.

After losing the first game, the resilient Tigers quickly turned the tables in the second game.

“That is one thing we do well,” LC coach Julie Yearout said. “They are stubborn when they realize they are making their own mistakes and beating themselves.”

For LC, the turning point was shutting down the powerful swing of Rogers’ Ashleigh Pollard. The sophomore had seven kills in the first game and was held to two in the second because of LC’s Chloe Rowand.

Rowand, who missed the regional tournament with a sprained ankle, finished with nine blocks in the match, stopping Pollard’s power at the net. She also had six kills on 10 attempts.

“That was a huge turning point for us,” Yearout said. “We had to shut (Pollard down) and Chloe did that for us. She gave us what we needed.”

Another sophomore that gave the team what they needed was Oceana Bush. Bush had 21 digs and 10 kills.

Senior Erica Ehlo caught fire after the first game, finishing with 19 kills. Teammate Hannah Zimmerman, who killed the final point of the match down the line, added 10 kills.

Shadle faced early elimination after losing 25-16, 25-23, 27-25 to Rogers in the first round.

“The girls were nervous this morning,” Shadle coach Brooke Cooper said. “I think it was still a little bit like a deer in headlights.”

After the first-round loss, Shadle regrouped and defeated Marysville-Pilchuck 25-20, 28-26, 26-24. Not before making it hard on themselves, though.

The Highlanders led 12-8 in the third game when Marysville-Pilchuck went on a 12-3 scoring run. At 24-20, Shadle squashed four of the Tomahawks’ game point opportunities and Lexi Bishop tied the game at 24-all with a kill down the line. Brianne Brown had two digs and a near-kill in the final two points and the Tomahawks swatted the final two points out.