Inspirational speech leads Lyncs to repeat 1A volleyball title

With the season hanging in the balance and trailing Kalama’s powerful Chinooks 2-1 in the Class 1A state semifinals, Lynden Christian coach Kim Grycel went to the one place she had avoided all season — talking about repeating as state champions.

“I told them, this is it. This is what you’ve worked for. We have to go all out,” Grycel said in the SunDome after the Lyncs rallied to advance to the finals with a grueling 17-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-19, 15-9 win.

“And then we got down 4-0 right away, so I took a time out and I said it again,” the emotional coach explained.

The Lyncs made Grycel’s motivational move pay off in the final Saturday evening, Nov. 14, toppling Cedar Park Christian, 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 to win the seldom-mentioned but coveted second straight title.

The Lyncs largely neutralized CPC’s standout Sam Dreschel in the final. Part of the strategy was to minimize Dreschel’s chances to impact the outcome by moving some of the attack behind the defensive line. The other part, which fell into place spontaneously, was the defensive work of Emmalee Bailey who had nine digs.

“Emmalee did a great job for us,” Gryucel said. “We didn’t want to create any windows for her (Dreschel) to hurt us, and I didn’t want this match to go four or five (games).”

Senior front line standout Kara Bajema explained that the back row addition to the attack was with an eye on diversity.

“We knew if we were strong from back there it would make it harder for the other teams,” she said.

Bajema had 26 kills in the final, while Carli Tjoelker had 37 assists.

But it might not have happened if not for Gruycel’s strident conversations with her team during the semifinals.

Grycel had tried all year to keep her young squad focused on improving rather than concentrating on repeating as state champions. After a ragged first three games, the veteran coach was willing to pull out all the stops.

Grycel had plenty of praise for her senior stalwarts Bajema and Tjoelker. Both set single-match school records, Tjoelker for assists with 69, Bajema for kills with 51.

After losing two five-game matches earlier in the season, Grycel began utilizing a drill that focused her team’s attention for the shorter contest that Game 5 is. It paid off in the semifinals; the Lyncs seized control of Game 5 immediately and were never really in danger.

LC wraps up the season with a 19-2 record and is the first team to repeat as 1A state championshions since King’s in 2008-09.

The title is the seventh volleyball crown won by a Whatcom County school, and it comes during the Lyncs’ 19th straight trip to the state tournament.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Inspirational speech leads Lyncs to repeat 1A volleyball title."