Lynden Christian volleyball came up short but not empty-handed at state

LC GIRLS SATURDAY

YAKIMA – Lynden Christian’s Lyncs added to their impressive trophy collection on Saturday, claiming the third-place trophy at the Class 1A State Volleyball Tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

The Lyncs split on Saturday, dropping the semifinal match to district rival King’s, 22-25, 29-27, 25-17, 25-22, then rebounding to beat Chelan 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-7.

In the program’s 21st trip to state, the Lyncs claimed their 18th trophy. In the last four tournaments Lynden Christian has finished first, first, second and third.

The semifinal win was a bit of redemption for King’s, having lost to Lynden Christian in four games in the district finals last weekend.

After dropping the first game to the Knights, Lynden Christian held on to win the second game, 29-27. King’s took the lead in the third game at 9-5 and the Lyncs couldn’t get closer than three points the remainder of the contest. The Lyncs led much of the fourth game but after taking a 17-14 lead they found themselves tied at 22 and King’s pulled away.

“I thought they played a little better than they did last time and we maybe didn’t play as well,” Lynden Christian coach Kim Grycel said. “What we did wasn’t quite enough. We made a couple errors late in those last two games we lost, and it could have gone the other way.”

In the trophy match the Lyncs won a tight first game with a late surge and watched Chelan pull away from a 16-15 lead to win the second game. A pair of monster kills by Avery Dykstra and Jacci Plenkovich were crucial in Lynden Christian’s late run to win game three and Chelan fell apart on the final game, falling behind 14-1 as the Lyncs pulled away for a surprisingly easy win.

It was a triumphant weekend for Grycel. She was formally inducted into the Washington State Volleyball Hall of Fame in an emotional ceremony just before the start of the trophy match. That honor comes on the heels of being named National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association 2016 Coach of the Year after last season. And with a young team with only one senior, she came an eyelash away from a fourth straight trip to the championship game.

“We knew we were going to need someone to step up after losing Rusnak (Whatcom County Player of the Year Hannah) from last year,” Grycel said of her young team. “It was fun to see some of these kids step up and finish for us. “

This story was originally published November 11, 2017 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Lynden Christian volleyball came up short but not empty-handed at state."