Prep Sports Report: Lynden, Sehome girls clash this week with state soccer berth at stake
Blake Van Dalen, Lynden’s highly successful football coach, says he uses the work ethic of the girls at his school to keep the boys motivated.
“Now I always have to tell our boys that they have to keep up with our girls,” Van Dalen said, referring to his school’s girl-packed state-of-the-art weight room. “Now we share the weight room full time with the soccer and volleyball girls.”
Lynden is one of three schools in Whatcom County that are unbeaten in both girls soccer and volleyball — the only other fall team sports other than football — after the first week of District 1 action.
The other two schools are Lynden’s 2A rival, Sehome — which has had perhaps its most successful overall autumn — and 1A powerhouse Lynden Christian.
“We really kind of took over the weight room over in the (past) summer,” said Lynden volleyball star Rian Stephan with a grin. “We worked out every single day. I think it’s great. Weight lifting connects us in a way.”
Girls Soccer
Lynden (17-0-1) and Sehome (13-2-3) found themselves with a winner-to-state 2A district match at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5 at Civic Stadium. Both won semifinal matches 2-0 Saturday, Lynden over Archbishop Murphy and Sehome over Burlington-Edison at Civic Field.
“I’m just so super proud of the way our girls continued the whole way to fight against a strong Archbishop Murphy team,” Lynden coach Clark Bourgault said.
Evelyn Saldivar scored both goals, one in the 28th minute and the other in the 64th, while goalkeeper Isla Holman, a spunky sophomore who never backs down, and the entire defense limited the Wildcats to five shots on goal.
“Lucv Plenkovich assisted on the first goal with a straight ball down the middle,” said Saldivar, who extended her school record to a county-leading 29 goals. “A throw-in by Wren Dickson made possible my second goal.”
Lynden’s 17 wins and 13 shutouts are school records, Bourgault said with pride. The Lions have 74 goals, and Sehome has 64 goals and 12 shutouts.
For Sehome, Vivian Moss scored her 10th goal of the season in the 17th minute, assisted by Keira Reeves, and Lexi Maldonado tracked a loose ball perfectly and scored in the 49th minute. Clarice Hickey earned the shutout in goal.
“I was very pleased with our play today,” Sehome coach Emily Webster said. “Players were organized, working hard off the ball, creating chances and focusing on near-post runs. Burlington’s goalkeeper played a great game!.”
In the loser-out rounds Saturday, Bellingham (15-3) beat Anacortes 5-4 in a shootout with a 5-3 penalty kick margin, and Squalicum (10-6-1) shut out Marysville-Pilchuck 4-0, as Arya Sabado scored three goals and Madeline Potts had one.
The Bayhawks face Archbishop Murphy at 8 p.m. Tuesday, and the Storm meets Burlington at 4 p.m. in loser-out games at Civic. There will be a loser-out game at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, and a winner-to-state game at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9.
Bellingham won the shootout 5-4 as Grace Gouran, Ivy Newell, Kira Carlson, Ella Morrow and Sloan Mahn all made good in that order. The scoring in regulation was by Newell 14 seconds into the game, Morrow near the end of the first half, Gouran in the 62nd minute, and Ana Rubey in stoppage time.
2A Quarterfinals
Top-seeded Lynden overwhelmed No. 8 Marysville-Pilchuck 11-1, led by Sandivar‘s five goals, third-seeded Sehome shut out Anacortes 4-0, seventh-seeded Burlington upended second-seeded Bellingham 2-1 in a shootout, and fourth-seeded Archbishop Murphy beat Squalicum 2-1 in a shootout.
Bourgault put Lynden’s win into perspective when he said, “It was Marysville-Pilchuck’s third game in three days and we had a week’s worth of rest from games.’’
Saldivar scored two minutes into the game and extended her school season record to 27 goals, finishing with two goals early in the second half. Freshman Dicks scored three with one in the first half, including what her coach called “a fine solo shot” to end the scoring. Jules Slayton, Jayda Villars (her sixth) and Blair Dowdy also scored. Assists came from Morgyn Heutink, Maliah Mitchell, Saldivar, Villars and Dicks.
Lynden’s 74 goals in 18 games is one of the state’s most productive marks.
Sehome’s Vivian Moss scored two goals, with one in the first minute, and Triya Mitchell and Ayla Woodworth also scored. Moss and Woodworth both increased their goal total to nine and Mitchell improved to seven goals. Assists came from Amaia Reid, Maldonado and Reeves.
“We played our best game so far!” Webster said. “The girls were working hard, staying connected, reading the plays well. Our goals were true team goals with all players doing their part to defend, win the ball, create and use space and create opportunities.”
For Bellingham, Sophia Dionne scored her sixth goal. Squalicum got a goal from Ania Stawicki. Both contests ended 1-1 in regulation, so penalty kicks decided the games.
1A District
Lynden Christian, the top 1A district seed from the Northwest Conference, made use of its strong season in a league of mostly 2A and 3A teams to win a shootout over Blaine in the finals Saturday at Blaine. The score in regulation was 0-0 and Kay Yun, Nayla Speer and AndI Anderson all made their penalty kicks.
“Both of our goalkeepers, Hannah Terpstra and Jessa Wynstra, were outstanding,” said coach Brent DeRuyter, in his 20th season with the girls. “They made four saves in regulation and Jessa stopped all three penalty kicks.
“Blaine’s keeper, Larissa Pluschakov, played an incredible game and she had 13 saves and kept them in the match,” he said.
To get to the state tournaments, the Lyncs must win a District 1 and 2 crossover match against either Overlake or Bear Creek Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. at Sammamish High School. The Lyncs are bidding for their 10th state berth with their coach.
In a Saturday loser-out match, Nooksack Valley eliminated Meridian 2-1. Nooksack plays at Blaine at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 for the right to go to the other District 1 and 2 crossover Nov. 9 at Sammamish, with the winner to state.
In the first round, Yun scored her team leading 11th goal and Avery Langstraat also tallied a goal in LC’s 2-0 win over Nooksack Valley on Wednesday at Blaine.
In the other semifinal, Blaine won 2-1 over Meridian in a shootout. Nevaeh Zaddack scored on a penalty kick to give the Borderites the win.
The score was tied 1-1 after regulation and overtime, the result of goals by Blaine’s Juliana Zuzarte and Meridian’s Sofie Brooks.
In a play-in game Oct. 26, Nooksack’s Maggie Byers, Khloe Mora and Gretchen Elmendorf made penalty kicks in a shootout to eliminate Mount Baker 2-1. The goals in regulation were by Nooksack’s Peyton Duque and Mount Baker’s Tyla Olson.
Cross Country
Sehome will enter the State meet on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Sun Willows Golf Course in the Tri Cities as the favorite to sweep the two 2A races, with the girls starting at 10:30 a.m. and the boys at 12:30 p.m.
Sehome, top-ranked all season in both divisions, swept the District 1 races at Lakewood on Saturday, Nov. 2. The boys scored 27 points and lBellingham scored 61 to take the other state team berth, while Sehome’s girls scored 25 and Anacortes took the second spot (only two teams were allowed to qualify for state, plus any individuals in the first 14 runners).
The Squalicum boys finished fourth with 88 points, while the Bellingham girls were third with 70, followed by Squalicum with 116 and Lynden with 126 (low score wins).
Sehome’s Lil Desler won the 5K girls race in 18:09 and Anacortes’ Dylan Rowell took the boys race in 15:26.
“We did what we were supposed to do, to run a smart, conservative race,” said Sehome coach Kevin Ryan. “Lil looked nice and comfortable and we had all seven of our boys in the top 14 (seven runners go to state with qualifying teams).
In the 1A qualifying at the Deming Log Show Grounds, Meridian swept the only available state berths with outstanding scores of 22 points for the boys and 18 points for the girls (maximum possible low score is 15).
“I knew we had a shot at winning both,” said veteran Meridian coach Mike Holz, expressing pride in his runners. “The top four qualified along with the top teams. At state, the top four get trophies and we would love to have two of those. We’re bidding for our eighth sweep of trophies at state.”
Lynden Christian’s Nickolas Luce won the boys race in 15:53 and Meridian’s Logan Ignacio claimed the girls title in 19:56.
Ferndale had one 3A state qualifier, Katie Manly with fifth in the girls race in 19:43.
The local 2A boys who will go to state: 1. Dylan Rowell (Ana) 15:26; 2. Nick Gargano (Se) 15:38; 3. Skyler Gillham (Se) 15:48; 4. Baines Machinski (Bell) 15:53; 5. Berkeley Pass (Bell) 15:59; 6. Sebastien Vahid (Se) 16:00; 7. Judson Berreth (Se) 16:02; 9. Jackson Rogers (Se) 16:08; 10. Heath Terry (Se) 16:16; 12. Dylan Hill (Se) 16:24; 13. Jonathan Piper (Sq) 16:25; 14. Taylor Russ (Sq) 16:25; 15. Parker Chesbrough (Bell) 16:27; 16. Jack Beglin (Bell) 16:32; 21. Alden Melanson (Bell) 16:47; 22. Tarver May (Bell) 16:50; 30. Noah Brenton (Bell) 17:38.
The local 2A girls who will go to state: 1. Lil Desler (Se) 18:09; 2. Sloan Dickson (Lyn) 18:32; 3. Sloane Clines (Se) 18:32; 4. Zaya Smith (Bell) 18:36; 5. Sydney Harri (Se) 18:49; 7. Samantha Knipp (Se) 19:03; 9., Kjirsten Ludeman (Se) 19:09; 10-. Sandra Voigt (Sq) 19:10; 12. Nora Seltz (Bell) 19:21; 13. Nora Alexander (Bell) 19:23; 17. Abby Rusk (Se) 19:44, 21. Liz Hernandez (Se) 20:03.
The local 1A boys who will go to state: 1. Nickolas Luce (LC) 15:53; 2. Reuben TeVelde (M) 16:06; 3. River Durben (M) 16:58; 4. Nolan Jacoby (Mer) 17:00; 5. Larson Rische (LC) 17:01;’ 6/ Asher Todd (M) 17:10; 7. Canyon James (M) 17:13; 10. Kellen Todd (M) 17:38; 12. Carson Siadel (M) 17:54.
The local 1A girls who will go to state: 1. Logan Ignacio (M) 19:56; 2. Adelle Ashmore (M) 20:24; 3. Laila Mellema (LC) 21:30; 4. Maddy Swanson (M) 21:33; 5. Ava Hansen (M) 21:34; 6. Zoe Furtado (NV) 21:36; 7. Aunaleisa Ross (M) 21:39; 8. Allie Gordley (M) 21:40; 10-. Cadence Scellick (M) 22:17.
Volleyball
In the first round of District 2A volleyball, Lynden took a thriller over Anacortes 25-10, 25-18, 14-25, 17-25, 15-12. In the other first-rounders, Sehome beat Lakewood, Burlington-Edison beat Squalicum and Archbishop Murphy beat Marysville-Pilchuck, all in three sets.
The other two tournaments will be at Meridian’s two gyms, with matches Monday, Nov. 4, at 5 p.m. with Lynden vs. Burlington at 5 p.m. and Sehome vs. Archbishop Murphy at 7. There are also loser-out matches the same day with Anacortes vs. Squalicum and Marysville-Pilchuck vs. Lakewood.
The tournament will continue through Nov. 9, with the title match at 6 p.m. for winner-to-state, with the loser entering the consolation bracket, which will produce another winner-to-state match Nov. 9.
In the win for Lynden (15-2), Finley Parcher had 19 kills, 15 digs and three aces against Anacortes, while Rian Stephan made 11 kills and five aces and Lexi Hermanutz had 11 kills, Campbell DeJong had 23 digs and Izzie Stephan turned in 40 assists and four aces.
“I told the girls just to go for it (be aggressive),” said longtime Lynden coach Chris Elsner, referring to Anacortes’ 10-9 lead in the first-to-15 fifth set. “We were a bit timid and tight.”
The girls responded with their best play of the night at Lynden. They scored the final points on kills (Parcher three, Hermanutz one and Izzie Stephan one) and skillfully applied back-row ace by star server Reese Nyhoff.
“We try to preach it and practice it, just go for it!” said Parcher. “That’s how much faith I have in our team.”
1A District
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. at Meridian, Lynden Christian (10-8) and Meridian (13-6) meet for the district title and a berth in a winner0-to-state crossover match Nov. 9 at Cedar Park Christian in Bothell. There will also be matches at ;5 p.m. in the other gym and Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
In the first round of the five-team district, LC beat Nooksack Valley 25-21, 19-21, 25-13, 25-20. Etta DeJong had 11 kills and nine digs, Allison Wright scored eight kills, and Tyra Dykstra had nine kills. Lyla Parriera had 17 digs and three aces, while Ellie Meyer each had Ellie Pierce eight digs. Ella Fritts had 35 aces.
“Today was a nice opening win over a good Nooksack team,” said LC coach Dennis Franzen. “I was very pleased with how we competed from beginning to end. Set one was crucial to our win, as we rallied from 17-21 down to win 25-21.”
Blaine (4-13) eliminated Mount Baker (0-16) 25-13 25-16, 25-22 behind Kaitlyn Harrington with 14 digs, three aces, Teia Dube with 12 digs and six kills, and Hannah Phelps-McDonald with 12 digs.
Meridian followed with a 25-12, 25-14, 25-15, despite a combined 23 digs by Dube and Harrington.
In the final Round 15 in the NWC, Lynden wound up second behind Burlington-Edison as the Lions finished 14-1 in league to go with the 14-0-1 league record of the girls soccer team. Lynden’s girls finished with the best combined league record of the two teams in school history — 28-1-1.
Lynden’s comeback 18-25, 25-16, 25-16 , 25-15 win over Lakewood (10-5, 10-6) was only the fourth time the Lions were taken to four sets in a victory. Including their three-set loss to Burlington, the Lions won 42 sets and lost only 7. Lynden scored 1,195 points compared to 825 for the opposition.
Sophomore standout Parcher had 15 kills, 16 digs and three aces, and junior Rian Stephan finished with 20 digs, 11 kills and five aces in what Elsner said were excellent efforts. Kamryn Hermanutz, the team’s only senior, had 20 digs, DeJong dug for 14 saves, and Izzie Stephan had 37 assists. Lexi Hermanutz contributed 12 kills via .333 hitting and two blocks.
Lynden Christian (8-7, 9-8) ended league play with a 25-17, 25-10, 27-25 win over Sedro-Woolley (4-11, 4-11) as Etta DeJong had 15 kills and three aces and Sydney Terpstra contributed eight kills. Fritts was exceptionally versatile as usual with 35 assists, five kills, six digs and 2.5 blocks, while Parriera had 12 digs and four aces, while Emery Wiersma made 11 kills, Meyer served four aces and Jocelyn Eshuis blocked 3.5 shots.
“We played with good focus and energy in the first two sets,” Janzen said. “I was very pleased to see us regroup after falling behind 11-2 in the third set to pull out the win.
In a match of state tournament hopefuls, Sehome (13-2, 13-2) beat Meridian (10-4, 12-6) 22-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-15, as Brigette Adams hit .429 with 15 kills, Hayden Niewiadomski had l0 kills and five digs and Leah Lockwood had five blocks and 11 kills in an outstanding match, according to information the coaches released through the Whatcom Preps web site. Makenna Andrews made 14 digs and Paige Flory had 13, while Emmy Lee had 34 assists and three aces. For Meridian, Melanie Short had a match-high 17 kills plus eight digs and Grace Wells had 31 assists. Eden Bernard made 12 digs, and Rylan Bernard served four aces, while Gracie Pap went for .625 with five kills and Chloe Bresser and Taya Benson each blocked two shots.
Ferndale (10-5, 10-7) topped Squalicum (5-10, 5-11) in five sets behind one of the best matches from Brooklyn Larrabee, who had 41 assists, 13 digs, three aces and nine kills. Lay Williams made 14 kills and three blocks, while Olivia Copps contributed 16 kills and Katrina Ferry had 13 digs. Others with major contributions were Adelle Overson with seven kills and 2.5 blocks, Terrace Hendrickson with eight kills and Gabby Lenssen with three aces and two blocks.
For Squalicum, there were major contributions from Jolie Pax with 15 kills and 15 digs, Jazzy Bersola with nine digs, five aces and 24 kills, Archer Burns with 11 kills and 2.5 blocks, and Penelope Durias with 16 digs and eight kills. Bronwyn Jones had 12 digs and Alyssa Roselli had 18 digs and 15 assists.
Oak Harbor (5-10, 5-11) topped Blaine (2-13, 3-14) 25-12, 25-9, 22-25, 25-13. Brie Smith had three aces and seven digs, while Kaitlyn Harrington had 13 digs and nine kills and Teia Dube had five kills and six digs.
Nooksack Valley (8-7, 9-8) beat Bellingham (2-13, 2-14) 26-28, 25-13, 25-16 25-23 in a spirited match led by setter Payton Bartl’s 48 kills and four aces and Grace DeHoog’s 25 kills and 15 digs. Elizabeth DeLange hit .579 with 11 kills and two blocks, while Karson Olney had 15 digs and Gracie Rutgers had eight kills and eight digs.
Anacortes (9-6, 10-6) gained a 25-21, 25-14, 25-19 win over Mount Baker (0-15, 0-16) as the Mountaineers benefited from two blocks and four kills by Reace Brown.
In matches that completed Round 14, all the winners were above the losers in the standings, including Sehome’s win over Ferndale 25-22, 25-16, 25-1. Niewiadomski had 12 kills, three aces and five digs, while Lockwood made five blocks and 10 kills, Lee had 29 assists and nine digs, and Adams had nine digs and seven kills. For Ferndale, Ferry made 17 digs, while Larrabee had 21 assists, nine digs, four kills and 1.5 blocks.
Meridian beat Bellingham 25-12, 25-19, 25-16, led by Rylan Bernardy with 13 digs and four aces and Eden Bernardy with 11 digs, three aces and 10 kills. Short had 11 kills and Wells made 28 assists.
Bellingham’s Sonoma Smith had five aces and five kills
Mount Vernon topped Blaine 20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19 despite Harrington’s 18 kills, Smith’s 31 assists, Dube’s 21 digs and nine kills and Livia Weeda’s three aces.
League leader Burlington-Edison topped Nooksack Valley 25-15, 25-7, 25-13. DeHoog had seven digs and four kills and DeLange served three aces.
Sedro-Woolley defeated Mount Baker 26-24, 20-25, 25-10, 25-10. For the Mountaineers, Maddi Lewis hit .500 with 11 kills and made sewen digs, while Brown had four blocks, Rebeca Soares had six kills and two blocks, Cailyn Jewell served three aces, and Annalee Cohn had 25 assists and five digs.
In a makeup match, Ferndale beat Nooksack 20-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-17, led by Ferry with 23 digs, Kaylie Carver with five aces, Svetlana Baydack with 12 kills and Larrabee with 24 assists, 11 digs and four kills. Power came from Lenssen and Amelie McKeon with 5.5 blocks together.
Boys tennis
Bellingham senior Jacob Kuhn, who won all 15 of his singles matches and claimed the District 1 title, was named Most Valuable Player on the All-NWC team. Tom Sloane, who guided Sehome to a 14-0 dual match championship, was honored as Coach of the Year.
Others on the first team: Spencer Betz, Burlington, Sr.; Zach Chai, Sehome, Sr.; Colton Hong, Anascortes, Jr.; Caleb Imbach, Bellingham, Sr.; Harley Kaiser, Sehome, Jr.; Leo Kuhn, Bellingham, Soph.; Sean Lane, Sehome, Jr.; Christian Leon, Sehome, Jr.; Nate Lyon, Bellingham, Sr.; Henry ;Schuller, Oak Harbor, Jr.; Kounosuke Wilcox, Burlington, Sr.
Second team: Hudson Baker, Burlington, Jr.; Justin Barras, Sehome, Jr.; Jonas Carpenter, Ferndale, Jr.; Michael Hogland, Burlington, Sr.; Jae-Yoon Lee, Sehome, Sr.; Dayton Lewis, Lakewood, Jr.; Ethan Oscarson, Squalicum, Jr.; Trevor Sadler, Oak Harbor, Jr.; Alex Tull, Anacortes, Jr.; Adam Van Egdom, Anacortes, Jr.; Luke Van Kooten, Lynden, Sr.; Darian Whiton, Mount Vernon, Sr.
Girls swimming and diving
District 1 trials will be held Friday, with the finals Saturday Nov. 9 Wat Fidalgo Pool in Anacortes.
This will be an opportunity for girls who have not yet met state time standards in any event to gain berths in the State Championships Friday and Saturday at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.
Dual-meet champion Bellingham, second-place Sehome and third-place Anacortes will be battling for the district title.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Prep Sports Report: Lynden, Sehome girls clash this week with state soccer berth at stake."
