Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

PREP VOLLEYBALL: Lyncs sweep King's to win district title

LYNDEN - It's time for the Lynden Christian volleyball team to start packing their bags for Yakima and the Class 1A state tournament.

The Lyncs pulled off their biggest win of the season so far, sweeping top-ranked and undefeated King's 25-18, 25-21, 26-24 in the championship match of the Class 1A Northwest District Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Lynden Christian High School.

In the tournament's consolation final, Meridian knocked off Coupeville 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 26-28, 15-13 in a loser-out match to keep its season alive. The Trojans play another loser-out match on Thursday, Nov. 5, on the road against an opponent yet to be determined.

The district championship gives the Lyncs an automatic berth into the state tournament on Nov. 12-13 in Yakima. Up next for Lynden Christian is a trip to the Tri-District Tournament next week to play for seeding to state.

"Our whole team was doing a great job supporting each other," junior Kendra Gross said. "For us, it starts with the pass and that's something we really focused on. If we can pass we can put the ball away. We have great hitters all the way around."

It's the first time in at least four years that the Lyncs have defeated King's and the first time in nearly two seasons since the defending state champion Knights have lost a match.

"It was a great victory," Lynden Christian coach Kim Grycel said. "And to do it in three was just amazing. We beat King's in a none-league game four or five years ago, but it's been a while. They've had our number. This is a big win for us."

The Lyncs used a ferocious block to keep the Knights' hitter off balance and put away the majority of their attacking chances. Lynden Christian jumped out to early leads in the first two games and then weathered rallies by King's to hold on. The third game was back-and-forth with the Knight's even leading 24-23 at one point before the Lyncs scored the final three points to take the match.

Kayleigh Ryan had 10 kills and Gross added eight more and four aces to lead the Lyncs. Brielle Van Zonneveld and Nicole Steiger combined for 20 blocks. The Knights Dionna Kirton led all players with 20 kills.

Securing a state berth this early in the postseason was a major change for the Lyncs from a year ago. Last season, Lynden Christian had to fight its way through five loser-out matches to make it to the state tournament. This year it's already wrapped up. Lynden Christian beat Coupeville 25-15, 25-12, 25-22 in the district semifinals to set up its showdown with King's.

"It's so much better than last year," Steiger said. "There's a lot less stress now that we've already made state. I'm excited. As a senior this was my last time playing on my home court so it's nice to finish it with a bang."

The Trojans were just as excited to be moving on after holding off Coupeville to earn the third seed into the Tri-District Tournament. Meridian trailed 12-11 in the fifth game of its match against the Wolves, but scored four of the last five points to win. Senior Bree Park delivered the deciding kill for the Trojans.

"We dug in and never gave up," Meridian coach Bree Brandt said. "They wanted this match really bad and we won it, finally."

Coupeville ended Nooksack Valley's season in the first round of the tournament, beating the Pioneers 23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-22, 15-12. Meridian opened with a 25-21, 27-25, 25-12 win over Friday Harbor. In the semifinals the Trojans were swept by King's 25-10, 25-16, 25-21.

The most important thing for Meridian and Lynden Christian is that both will keep playing this season.

"I think winning the way we did in five games gives the girls a huge boost of confidence," Brandt said. "Blood pressure wise that isn't really the way we want to do it, but it was definitely worth it."