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Sports Notebook: Volleyball caps season 7th at state
11/23/2015 2:45:56 PM
By Mike Vlahovich
Ten senior volleyball players on Central Valley's veteran team ended careers by leaving their marks on the program that could be tough to duplicate.
They were part of a Bears team that earned successive trophies in state with a school-best seventh place effort in mid-November to go with their regular season Greater Spokane League championship.
The thrilling end to the season included second place district and regional finishes behind Mead, a team they played three times in matches that went to five games.
The penchant for five-game drama continued in state. CV drew eventual tourney second place finisher Emerald Ridge in its opener and took a two games to one lead, but eventually succumbed 15-12 in the decider.
The Bears gained momentum, winning their next three for the trophy. The first was another five-game match, but they gave up just one game in their next two, winning 25-23, 25-17, 25-16 over Jackson and 19-25, 25-18, 25-15 and 28-26 over Tahoma.
The GSL swept three regional berths against Mid-Columbia Conferences foes - Mead finishing sixth in state, University going 0-2. West Valley and Eisenhower from Yakima of the Big Nine also competed in state, top-ranked WV placing third.
A number of seniors played big roles during postseason - middle KeAnn White, the Rockwood twins, setter Jade and libero Meghan, defensive specialist Taryn Ungaro and middle Hannah Reiman among them.
Others to be missed will be outside hitters Stephanie Howard and Morgan Ness, right sides Emma Smith and Shelby Frank, and defensive specialist Ashley Blew.
Finding replacements to join four returnees - outside hitter Sydney Johnson, sophomore middle Paige Wollan, plus setter Elise Peck and outside hitter Paige Van Matre - will be the order of business for Laurie Quigley.
The rookie coach set a high bar for herself.
FOOTBALL IN FINAL 16
The season may have ended with a 42-3 loss to Richland, but it will be one the Bears can look back on with pride.
They compiled an 8-3 record, finished second in the Greater Spokane League and reached the State 4A round of 16 for the first time in three years with a blend of veteran and young football players.
After losing their season non-league opener, CV won five straight games before defeat against Gonzaga Prep, which was unbeaten in 11 games heading into the state quarterfinals.
The Bears won three more, including over rival University, and defeated Chiawana 24-13 before being ousted by Richland 30-3.
Gage Connole, Alec Doyle and Tanner Sloan will be seniors missed along with lineman Scott Peck.
Connole led the team in rushing in the GSL with 408 yards on 91 carries and overall gained more than 600 yards. Doyle added nearly 400 yards on the ground, with 297 of them coming on 79 attempts in the GSL.
Sophomore Jase Edwards caught 21 passes for 247 yards had had over 400 yards in receptions for the season.
Quarterback Tanner Sloan was fourth in the league with 104 completions in 188 attempts and 1,037 yards in the GSL and exceeded 1,600 yards overall.
CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS AT STATE
Central Valley's young boys and girls cross country teams ended their seasons with return state trips. Both had five underclassmen out of seven runners.
The boys team finished ninth at state, the girls 10th.
Sophomore Gabe Romney was the Bears top boys finisher taking 23rd in 15 minutes, 55.5 seconds. Freshman Ryan Kline, junior Isaac Nicholls and sophomores Fielding Demars and Will Grassl followed. They were separated by about 29 seconds.
Senior Briegan Bester finished 18th in her final state race, timing 18:40.3. Junior Kearan Nelson timed 18:45.4. Gabrielle Ford and Ashley Beard are juniors; Taylor Brunnet a sophomore and Alexis Beard a freshman.
SOCCER ENDS IN DISTRICT
Central Valley's young soccer team's season came to a close in district competition, winning once and losing twice. Two of the matches ended in shootouts, including over eventual champion and state semifinalist Gonzaga Prep following a 0-0 stalemate.
The first came in a 3-2 decision over Mead in loser out competition to advance against the Bullpups.
Freshman Madylyn Simmelink and Kaite Van Etten scored goals in regulation. Van Etten also had a penalty kick goal as did sophomores, season scoring leader Kaelyn Barnes and Ann Hilbert, and junior Natalie Cabiad to decide it.
In the regional qualifier, CV lost to rival University 2-0.
Of CV's 20-player roster, four - Cassie Peterson, Marissa Terry, Olivia Fielding and Van Etten are seniors.
Eight freshmen, four sophomores and four juniors return.
Next up: Basketball, wrestling and gymnastics begin the first week of December.
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