Prep Sports Report: Just one loss so far this season for Lynden volleyball, girls soccer
Lynden’s girls soccer team learned a lot when Sehome spoiled the Lions’ perfect Northwest Conference record with an action-packed tie.
Lynden’s girls volleyball team overcame challenges from Sehome and Ferndale, which have two of the other four top NWC squads, in a point-packed week to keep the Lions with only one league loss.
The result: With advantageous seeding in the district playoffs assured, the dynamic Lynden duo has a combined league record of 22-1-1, the best girls two-team tally in the talent-laden NWC.
Girls Soccer
“We had a point to prove,” said Lynden coach Clark Bourgault, explaining how the Lions (12-0-1 NWC, 13-0-1 overall) emotionally exploded for four goals in the first 22 minutes of their 7-0 win Thursday at Ferndale (5-6-1, 6-6-1), including the 19th and 20th goals of the season by the remarkable senior striker Evelyn Saldivar.
The point was that the Lions may be potent enough if called upon at districts against the Mariners to make up for their 3-3 tie with talented Sehome (10-1-2, 10-2-2) two days earlier at Bender Fields.
The tie had the effect of a win in the standings for Lynden with two rounds left this week in the 15-round schedule, but Bourgault acknowledged, “It felt a little more like a loss, because our senior class has never beaten Sehome. We’ve had three ties in three seasons against Sehome, plus losses in other games.”
Lynden came in with nine shutouts, but each team shockingly scored twice in a 12-minute span, beginning 11 minutes into the action when Sehome’s Triya Mitchell scored off a corner kick by Keira Reeves.
The Lions quickly took a 2-1 lead on goals by Meg Clarke and Morgyn Heutink, both assisted by Saldivar. But the Mariners almost immediately responded when Vivian Moss made it 2-2 in the 27th minute.
The Lions went up 3-2 when Saldivar used a nice assist6 by Rilanna Newcomb, only to see the Mariners equalize with a goal by Ella Perry off a beautiful long ball into the goal mouth by Kylie Ivcevic in the 65 th minute.
“That was a good outcome against a good team,” said Sehome coach Emily Webster, whose team has picked up on the passion Webster showed for soccer as a star at Sehome and Western Washington University. “We kept our composure really well in a game that was physical and technical.”
In the final 15 minutes, Lynden goalkeeper Isla Holman made three fine saves to give her at least seven saves for the tension-packed game.
“Their goals were all good shots,” Holman said, to which Clark agreed by saying, “Isla had no chance to stop any of Sehome’s goals.”
Lynden and Sehome came in with a combined seven of the top 16 scorers in the league, according to the list produced by historian Tyler Anderson for the Whatcom Preps website.
Lynden’s other goals in the win over Ferndale were two by Jayda Villars and one each by Heutink, Clarke and Paizley Hildebrand.
Ironically, Sehome also erupted for a 7-0 win over Blaine on the same day. Ayla Woodworth scored twice and Amaia Reid, Keira Reeves, Mitchell and Briley Valliant also scored, along with an own goal by Blaine. It was Valliant’s first varsity goal.
Reeves now has eight goals. Lynden’s Clarke and Sehome’s Moss and Woodworth are at seven, where Ivcevic already was. With 20 goals, the league-leading Saldivar is one shy of Lynden’s school record set last season by Mallory Villars.
In other Round 13 action Thursday, Meridian (3-9-1, 4-9-1) claimed a 4-0 win over Lakewood as Brooklyn Fuller scored two goals. Squalicum (8-5, 8-5) remained in the top half of the NWC with a 4-1 win over Lynden Christian (7-5-1, 9-5-1) as freshman Siri Hoglin had three goals for her second hat trick, giving her the second-highest total in the league with 13. Arya Sabado scored the other goal for the Storm and Hattie Hendricks scored for LC.
Bellingham (11-2, 12-2) shut out Burlington-Edison 3-0 as Ivy Newell scored her 12 th goal and Grace Gourau and Samiah Rowe also scored. In the other games, Anacortes took an 8-0 win over Nooksack Valley (2-10, 2-13) and Oak Harbor earned a 6-1 win over Mount Baker (0-12-1, 0-13-1), which got a goal from Tyla Olson.
In Round 12 two days earlier, Lynden Christian beat Ferndale 3-0 behind two goals by AndI Anderson and one by Kayla Yun, and Squalicum battered Lakewood 7-0 as Kiarra Voigt had two goals and Hoglin, Ava Simmons, Hannah Bates, Mya Dyrland and Lundyn Brooks also contributed goals. Bellingham also had a 7-0 win over Mount Baker as Newell scored twice and Ella Morrow, Beckett Ferry ,Ana Riley, Sloan Mahn and Morgan DuPre also hit the scoring column.
In other games, Mount Vernon beat Nooksack Valley 2-0; Oak Harbor overcame Meridian 5-0; and Anacortes topped Blaine 6-0.
Volleyball
Lynden (10-1, 11-3) scored a remarkable 200 points in two wins in Rounds 10 and 11 as the Lions prevailed over Ferndale (7-3, 7-5) 27-25, 25-14, 23-25, 25-17 Thursday, two days after overcoming a challenge from Sehome (9-2, 9-2) 22-25, 25-13, 28-26, 25-19.
The only way to earn 200 points in two matches is to rally from a tight loss in one set by winning the other three sets.
Lynden’s statistics against Ferndale were nothing less than spectacular, as Lions coach Chris Elsner demonstrated with exclamation points after some of the numbers.
Sophomore Finley Parcher had 20 kills while hitting .395 and 18 digs, while junior Rian Stephan had 14 kills, 10 digs and six aces. Freshman Izzie Stephan had 41 assists, four aces and 11 digs, while junior Campbell DeJong had 21 digs while Lynden’s only senior, Kamryn Hermanutz, posted 23 digs as the Lions gave a clinic on how to dig out potential kill shots.
Sarah McVie, a sophomore, called her first varsity match-winner “surreal” after her kill shot for the 25th point in the fourth set. Junior Reese Nyhoff and sophomore Lexi Hermanutz also had several big moments for the Lions, who are among the state’s youngest teams with such a strong record.
When asked how she came along so well with aces for Lynden’s 21st and 22nd points in the fourth set after having net-ball woes earlier, Rian Stephan had no trouble explaining.
“I’ve just learned to get those (such troubles) out of my mind,” said the 6-foot-1 standout. “I tell myself, ‘I can, I can, I can.’” And so she could.
Ferndale’s standouts included Katrina Ferry with 22 digs, Caitlyn Berg with five aces and Brooklyn Larrabee with 16 digs and 21 assists.
Against Sehome, Parcher had a kill for the 24th point and an ace for the winning point in the fourth set. Her ace was a remarkably difficult curve serve with topspin.
“A guy from Morocco with two national titles showed me how to make that serve at a camp last year,” said Parcher, who finished with 11 kills and 10 digs.
Rian Stephan had 11 kills and 11 digs while DeJong had 17 digs, Kamryn Hermanutz had 16 digs and Izzie Stephan had 23 assists, eight digs and five aces.
“We had some frantic moments but we were able to work through them,” Elsner said.
For Sehome, Emmy Lee had 22 assists, Hayden Niewiadomski had 12 kills and Makenna Andrews had 16 digs. Jillian Parfet chipped in with four aces.
In the week’s 2A state poll, Burlington-Edison (11-0, 14-2) — which handed Lynden its lone loss — is ranked No. 1 while Lynden is No. 4 and Sehome is No. 5.
In Round 11, Sehome bounced back with a win over Blaine (1-10, 2-11) as Niewiadomski had four aces, eight kills and .500 hitting. Anya Winter had six kills and .455 hitting, while Leah Lockwood had six kills and 3.5 blocks, Andrews had 12 digs and Lee recorded 18 assists. Kaitlyn Harrington led Blaine with nine digs and five kills and Teia Dube made seven digs.
Anacortes (8-3, 0-3) took a 21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 win over Nooksack Valley (6-4, 7-5), despite Grace DeHoog’s 15 kills and 15 digs and Elizabeth DeLange’s 13 kills and three blocks. Peyton Bartl had 33 assists and four aces, while Annie Stremler had four aces, Avery Juergens had 14 digs and Gracie Rutgers had 10 kills.
Lynden Christian (7-4, 8-5) earned a 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 win over Squalicum (4-7, 4-8). Ella Fritts had 23 assists and six digs, while Etta DeJong collected six kills, two blocks and two aces. Lyla Parrierra had 13 digs, Alli Wright had 3.5 blocks and Emery Wiersma had six digs.
“We came out with great energy and focus,” said encouraged Lyncs coach Dennis Franzen. “It was fun to watch the team play tonight!” I was especially pleased with our blocks (12) and our defense.”
For Squalicum, Jolie Paz had seven kills, six digs and two aces. Alyssa Roselli had six digs and 14 assists and Archer Burns and Penelope Durias had five kills each.
Meridian (7-4, 8-5) beat Lakewood 25-14, 24-26, 25-14, 25-21 with 18 kills and 18 digs by Eden Bernardy and 15 kills, 13 digs and four aces by Melanie Short. Grace Wells made 51 assists, while Rylan Bernardy had a remarkable 29 digs and Gracie Pap had 15 kills and .520 hitting plus two blocks.
Oak Harbor beat Mount Baker (0-11, 0-12) 25-9, 25-13, 25-17 although Cailyn Jewell had three blocks, Kennedy Rathjen made nine digs and Rebeca Soares had three blocks.
Burlington-Edison defeated Bellingham (1-10, 1-11) 25-14, 25-11, 25-17. Ophelia Van Leeuwen had eight digs and Mary Lockhart made five blocks for the Bayhawks.
In Round 10, Ferndale topped Lynden Christian 20-25, 27-25, 25-16, 25-16. Larrabee was outstanding with 31 assists, 11 digs and nine kills, while Olivia Copps had 16 digs, seven kills and two aces, and Svetlan Baydak had 12 kills. In the dig department, Berg had 18, Ferry 12 and Kaylie Carver 10. For LC, Danya Dykstra had six kills and two blocks, while Wright had five blocks, three aces and five kills. Fritts had 23 assists, three aces and three blocks. Parriera had 12 digs and four aces and Ellie Meyer had 16 digs.
Meridian beat Oak Harbor 16-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-21 as Eden Bernardy had 16 digs, 11 kills and seven aces while Short had 14 kills, Rylan Bernardy made 14 digs and Wells contributed 42 assists.
Lakewood beat Squalicum 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 25-16. For the Storm, Roselli had 18 assists and nine digs, while Paz had 11 digs and nine kills, and Bronwyn Jones had 13 digs.
Nooksack beat Mount Vernon 25-20, 28-26, 26-14, led by Bartl with 21 assists and eight digs, DeHoog with 14 digs and 11 kills, DeLange with 11 kills and .611 hitting, Rutgers with nine kills and Juergens with seven digs and four aces.
Anacortes beat Blaine 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 despite five blocks, three aces and six digs by Harrington. Dube had nine kills and Carley Saunders had five blocks.
In the Burlington-Edison team tournament Saturday, Lynden gave it a good shot but lost to Burlington-Edison 25-22, 21-125, 15-13 in the semifinals of the eight-team event, in which the last three rounds were best of three sets. In the title match, Ellensburg beat Burlington 25-9, 25-22.
“We played 14 hours of volleyball Saturday!” Elsner said of her Lynden team, which went 11-4 in set scores in pool play and bracket play combined. The Lions split with Burlington and Ellensburg and twice beat North Kitsap, Black Hills and Tumwater.
Parcher led with 4.1 kills per set, totalling 61 kills and .299 hitting in an outstanding effort. She also had a team-high 69 digs.
Lexi Hermanutz averaged 3.0 kills per set and hit a remarkable .330, plus a team-leading seven stuff blocks. Kamryn Hermanutz had 90 percent serving and 41 digs with 25 kills.
Rian Stephan had 3.4 kills per set and DeJong had 64 digs. Izzie Stephan had 163 assists for an excellent average of 11 per set.
Nyhoff made 53 serves for 94 percent.
Elsner said all these statistics were excellent.
Girls Swimming
Sehome and Bellingham engage in a battle of unbeaten girls swim teams Tuesday Oct. 22 at 3:30 p.m. at Arne Hanna Swim Center, with the Northwest Conference title on the line between powerful squads that have averaged more than 100 points per meet.
Sehome comes in 7-0 after a 98-57 win over Sedro-Woolley Thursday. Bellingham is also 7-0 after a 105-55 win over Oak Harbor last Tuesday. Sehome will finish Thursday against Anacortes at Arne Hanna and Bellingham will conclude Friday against Squalicum (2-4) at Arne Hanna.
Bellingham, with more than 100 points in every meet, has averaged 113 points per meet. Sehome has averaged 110 while scoring more than 100 in all but two meets.
Bellingham remained in contention for its second consecutive undefeated season with its win over Oak Harbor, the 16th in a row for the Bayhawks.
Also last Tuesday, Sehome beat Mount Vernon 106-77 and Lynden earned a 108-54 victory over Burlington-Edison as per the Whatcom Preps website, which the coaches use to submit results. Lynden (4-3) followed two days later with a 129-30 win over Ferndale (1-6).
Bellingham 105, Oak Harbor 55. Bellingham winners: 200 medley relay: Bellingham (Hayes, Acord, Sorensen, Wilson) 2:20.10; 200 free: Annika Holland 2:39.66; 200 IM -- Grace Sorensen 2:33.57; 50 free: June Wilson 32.06; 100 fly: Sorensen 2:33.57; 100 free - Wilson 1:11.47; 500 free -- Peyton Acord 5:15.24; 200 free relay -- Bellingham (Wilson, Nies, Garcia, Holland) 2:11.87; 100 breast -- Acord 1:30.55; 400 free relay: Bellingham (Holland, Nies, lSorensen, Acord) 4:45.03.
Sehome 98, Sedro-Woolley 57. Sehome winners: 200 medley relay: Sehome (Ethelbah, Maden, Gharaei, Tellefson) 2:18.58. 200 free: Brielle Hicks 2:30.21; 200 IM: Sage Maden 2:46.79; 50 free: Ella Ethelbah 28.69; 100 fly: Priyanka Costanzo 1:19.50; 100 free -- Ethelbah 1:02.99; 500 free: Parnia Gharaei 6:43.63; 200 free relay: Sehome (Costanzo, Glass, Maden, Hicks) 2:07.15; 100 back: Kajsa Glass 1:24.29; 100 breast: Costanzo 1:23.63; 400 free relay: Sehome (Maden, Hi cks, Gharaei, Ethelbah) 4:37.43.
Sehome 106, Mount Vernon 77. Sehome winners: 200 medley relay: Sehome (Tellefson, Costanzo, VanJaarsveld, Ethelbah 2:14.98; 200 free: Ella Ethelbah 2:18.26; 200 IM -- Priyanka Costanzo 2:41.12; 50 free -- Ayla VanJaarsveld 27.91; 1-meter diving: Cora Burns 133.10 points; 100 fly: 500 free: Ethelbah 6:11:59; 200 free relay: Sehome (Tellefson, Maden, Costanzo, Hicks) 2:05.23; 100 breast -- Costanzo 1:24.25; 400 free relay: Sehome (VanJaarsveld, Maden, Hicks, Ethlebah) 4:35.86.
Lynden 129, Ferndale 30, Meridian 21. Winners: 200 medley relay: Lynden (Bredeson, Baldwin, Morris, Fleming-Butela) 2:28.39; 200 free: Amberly Briskin (L) 2:56.08; 200 IM: Kaitlin Morris (L) 2:49.08; 50 free: Claire Fleming-Butela 31.44; 100 fly: Natalie Nunez (M) 1:30.17; 100 free: Ella Brede son (L) 1:07.54; 500 free: Morris (L) 6:46.56; 200 free relay: Lynden (Briceno, Somma, Baldwin, Hall) 2:26.09; 100 back: Bredeson (L) 1:24.61; 100 breast: Cara Esparza (F) 1:36.04; 400 free relay: Lynden (Hall, Fleming-Butela, Morris, Bredeson) 4:55.93.
Lynden 108, Burlington-Edison 54: Lynden winners: 200 medley relay: Lynden (Bredeson, Nelson, Morris, Fleming-Butela 2:25.14; 200 free -- Joci Hall 2:41.08; 200 IM -- Ella Ethelbah 2:56.52; 50 free -- Claire Fleming-Butela 30.63; 100 fly: Kaitlin Morris 1:15.19; 100 free -- Fleming-Butela 1:09.62; 500 free: Bredeson 6:51.79; 200 free relay: Lynden (Hall, Briskin, Somma, Fleming-Butela) 2:20.86; 100 back: Morris 1:18.95; 400 free relay -- Lynden (Hall, Bredeson, Morris, Rutledge) 4:59.41.
Sedro-Woolley 97, Ferndale 47, Meridian 20. Local winners: 500 free -- Emma Sande (F) 7:42.06; 100 back: Cara Esparza (F) 1:32.70.
Oak Harbor 90, Squalicum 52. Local winners: 200 medley relay -- Squialicum (Truemper, Martin, Ravitsky, Molina) 2:34.65; 500 free: Hailey Ferrell (Blaine) 5:30.87; 100 back: Ferrell 1:07.45.
Cross Country
Fans of the multitude of talented runners in Whatcom County will have a close-up view of the start and finish, with the shift of the NWC cross country championships to Civic Stadium (they were originally scheduled in Skagit County). The start and finish of the 5K race will be directly in front of the grandstand.
Sehome’s boys and girls, both top-ranked in 2A this season and both defending state champions, will try to win this warm-up for the state meet Nov. 9 at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
The girls will race at 4:40 p.m. and the boys will start at 5:10. The JV races will begin the action at 3:20 and 4 p.m.
Three district championships, which serve as the team and individual qualifiers for the state meet, will be held Nov 2. The 2A and 3A races will be at Lakewood High School near Arlington and the 1A race will be at the Deming Log Show Grounds. The district 2B and 1B meets will be held Oct. 30 at Fort Steilacoom Park south of Tacoma.
In the latest state poll, four NWC girls teams are ranked in the top six, as are three NWC boys teams. So there’s no doubt which conference has the state’s best runners as a group.
Sehome leads the girls in the poll, followed by Anacortes at No. 2, Bellingham at No. 3 and Squalicum at No. 6. Sehome tops the boys, followed by Anacortes at No. 4 and Squalicum at No. 6. The Bellingham boys and Lynden girls have honorable mention.
Meridian is the only county 1A team in the top 10, with the girls No. 6 and the boys No. 7.
Boys Tennis
Sehome won 11 of 14 matches to claim a two-match season sweep of second-place Bellingham, earning the NWC dual-match title at 14-0. Bellingham took second at 12-2, including a 6-1 loss to Sehome last Tuesday in the final round, after the Mariners also prevailed 5-2 Oct. 2.
Sehome 6, Bellingham 1. Winners: Kaiser, Chai, Barras, Mao (all S); Imbach/Lyon (B), Kuzin/Lee, Friesen/Crocheron.
Anacortes 6, Squalicum 1. Squalicum winner: Syler Swain.
For the District 1 2A quarterfinals on Monday, Oct. 21, at Skagit Valley College, Whatcom County players earned six of the eight spots.
Bellingham’s Aaron Minter faces Sehome’s Harley Kaiser, Sehome’s Zach Chai plays teammate Justin Barras, Squalicum’s Ethan Oscarson meets Anacortes’ Alex Tull, and Bellingham’s Jacob Kuhn meets Lake Washington’s Dayton Lewis.
Round of 16: Kuhn d. Anacortes’ Reed Myers, 6-3, 6-1; Lewis d. Squalicum’s Colin West 6-1, 6-1; Oscarson d. Kostiantyn Nevinglovsky, 6-2, 6-2; Chai d Anacortes’ Jerry Benson 6-1, 6-3; Barras d. Marysville-Pilchuck’s Terrance Johnson 6-0 ,6-0; Minter d. Squalicum’s Benjamin Ahn 6-4, 6-3; and Kaiser d. Bellingham’s Taylor Watts, 6-2, 6-0.
Round of 32: Kuhn, Oscarson, Chai and Kaiser had byes. West d. Archbishop’s Parker Campbell 6-2, 6-2; Lewis d. Lynden’s Owen Visser, 6-1, 7-5; Burlington’s Jaden Edwards d. Lynden’s Aaron McLendon 6-2, 6-1; Johnson d. Lynden’s Luke Hoffman 6-1, 3-6, 14-12; Barras d. Burlington’s Matt Benson 6-3, 3-6, 10-4; Ahn d. Dimitri Lewavkasim 6-2, 6-0; Minter d. Marysville-Pilchuck’s Clancey Flynn, 6-1, 6-0; Watts d. Archbishop’s Lochlan Shevlin 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles will also be contested.
The tournament continues Tuesday through Thursday at the Bellingham Tennis Club with matches that will eventually determine the district’s two singles qualifiers and two doubles team qualifiers for the boys state tournament, which is held in May in conjunction with the girls tournament.
This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Prep Sports Report: Just one loss so far this season for Lynden volleyball, girls soccer."
