2A Grandview surprises field en route to tournament title

Mead coach Judy Kight and Central Valley coach Chad Coupland didn’t know they were going to a surprise party. Neither did John LaFever, coach of Grandview.

For some, the surprises were good, while others were upsetting at the 13th annual Crossover Classic played Friday night and all day Saturday at various sites around Spokane.

Mead topped Greater Spokane League foe CV 25-16 to capture third place at this year’s annual volleyball tourney in the Buzzie Welch Championship Bracket played at University High School.

The teams only played one game because of a tournament rule that all games must be finished within 24 hours of the tournament’s beginning.

The Bears and Panthers traded points on a large number of service and hitting errors. At 12-all Mead’s Alex Cey served eight points to give the Panthers a large lead.

For the Bears to even be in the semifinals of the 54-team tournament was a surprise to most. They took down GSL-leading Lewis and Clark in two games in a quarterfinal match. The Tigers swept the Bears last Tuesday when the teams met in league action. Coupland, however, was not too shocked.

“That was huge for us, I mean they are a really good team,” Coupland said. “The kids were excited and you know we are right there with teams like that when we put together as complete of a game as anyone else. We do great as a group.”

The Bears went on to lose to Wenatchee in two games in the semifinals. Coupland said the quarterfinal win, which was the highlight for the team, came largely in part because of scrappy defense and coming together on the court.

“We played great defense (against LC),” Coupland said. “They played hard, but we played a really good game.”

Three-time State 4A champion Mead fell short of the final, losing in three games in the other semifinal to eventual tournament champion Grandview, the first 2A team to capture top honors at the tourney. Grandview thumped Wenatchee in two games in the championship.

“I scouted just about every team except them,” Kight said. “They are a fantastic team.”

“This is our first time at the tournament so we had no idea what to expect,” LaFever said. “We are a solid team; I have a lot of really young talent and the girls wanted to do well, but winning is just pretty amazing.”

LaFever was in awe of Kight’s team, and was the most surprised of anyone at the tournament.

“We just wanted to play really good against them,” LaFever said. “They have such a good program and for us it was great to get to play them. We didn’t expect to go on and win this thing. It’s pretty neat for a smaller school like us. What a surprise.”

The Panthers made costly passing errors at the end of the third game against Grandview.

“If we just settle and pass serve we do fine,” Kight said. “Against Grandview the girls were a little wound up and we passed really tight, which made it hard to run our offense.”

Kight wasn’t at all upset with the third-place finish.

“It gave us a lot of experience, which is always a good thing,” Kight said. “We got to play a lot of really good teams.”

Also in the championship bracket, Mt. Spokane topped Lake City in the fifth- and sixth-place match. LC defeated Hanford and University defeated Lebanon to tie for seventh place. Gonzaga Prep beat Riverside to capture 11th place.