Volleyball roundup: Ridgeline advances to Class 3A championship
YAKIMA – Ridgeline continued its volleyball title chase Saturday night at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
In the program’s fourth year and first trip to the state tournament, the top-seeded Falcons were set to meet No. 2 North Thurston for the Class 3A championship.
The match was scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start, but began late and the result was not available at press time. For the result, visit spokesman.com/sports
Ridgeline advanced to the title match by outlasting No. 5 Seattle Prep 23-25, 27-25, 25-19, 17-25, 15-11.
The Falcons were undefeated in the Greater Spokane League and won the district championship to earn a state berth.
Mt. Spokane takes third in 3A
Sixth-seeded Mt. Spokane won a trophy for the fifth straight tournament, twice rallying from a set down to beat No. 5 Seattle Prep to claim third place in the Class 3A state tournament early Saturday evening.
The Wildcats won 25-23, 25-27, 23-25, 25-21, 17-15.
Mt. Spokane were swept in the semifinals by No. 2 North Thurston, 25-11, 25-20, 25-19 to begin play Saturday, after surviving a five-setter against Timberline and winning in four against Prairie on Friday.
The third-place finish is the best finish for the Wildcats since claiming the 2019 championship.
After finishing 7-2 in the GSL – with its only league losses to 3A top-seed Ridgeline and 4A contender Gonzaga Prep – Mt. Spokane was the district runner-up.
Class 4A
Mead falls short of medal round
Defending Class 3A champion Mead fell a set short of adding another 4A trophy to its collection, falling to Eastlake in five sets Saturday morning.
The 10th-seeded Wolves snuck past the No. 14 Panthers 23-25, 25-19, 26-25, 14-25, 15-12.
Mead had qualified for the state tournament by winning the district championship after being seeded fifth with a 5-4 record in the rugged GSL.
The Panthers have won 21 state trophies – 18 of those in 4A. They captured seven 4A championships, including five straight from 2003-07, before reclassifying for the 2021-22 school year.
Mead won the 3A championship in 2021 and 2023 to sandwich a runner-up finish in ’22.