Bulldog v-ball team places 7th at SunDome

Colfax volleyball team team was jolted by Brewster Thursday in the opening round of the state B tournament at Yakima's SunDome, but the Bulldogs came back to win their last three matches to finish seventh in the state show.

The finish was the best they could claim as a first-match victim. They made the run with two sweeps and one four-set win.

Coach Brandy Brown noted the Bulldogs, who didn't get to the state final last year, arrived at Yakima with just two players who had state experience at the dome, and they had trouble getting in gear in the opener.

"They just made fewer mistakes than we did," Brown commented on the Brewster win.

The Bears swept Colfax 25-14 25-21 and 25-21.

Kierstyn York had 14 kills against the Bears, and Justice Brown had 24 assists with three aces. Abree Aune booked 13 digs.

The opening loss meant Colfax had to win two elimination matches to get to the last consolation round to finish with a tourney plaque.

They swept Willapa Valley in three sets, topped Walla Walla Valley Academy in four sets and the dropped Kittitas/Thorp in three to claim the tournament hardware.

The win over Willapa went down 25-12, 25-21, 25-7 with York hitting 11 kills and Brown getting 22 assists and nine digs. Asher Cai and Sophie Klaveano each hit four aces. Cai logged seven kills, and Klaveano had six kills.

Walla Walla Academy and Colfax locked up in a battle in the first game with Colfax bagging a 26-24 edge. Academy took the second game 25-18, but Colfax advanced with 26-24 and 25-15 for the next two sets.

York rapped 19 kills in the long match and booked five aces, Brown finished with 31 assists and hit seven aces. Klaveano hit 11 kills, and Anni Cox finished with 14 digs.

Colfax swept Kittitas/Thorp 25-15, 25-21 and 25-19 in the last match of the season.

York hit 20 kills in the season finale; Brown had 31 assists with four aces and seven digs. Cox hit nine aces and had 15 digs.

The 3-1 run at state left the Bulldogs with a 16-4 record for the season.

Coach Brown credited the team with putting the strong campaign in the books. One unique feature of the Bulldogs campaign was the absence of any seniors on the club. That means all the experience logged this season, including the run at the dome, will be back on the boards next year for another campaign.

NE dominator Northwest Christian advanced all the way to the state title game where they were swept by LaConner. The champions also stacked three sweeps in their state run with a four-game battle with Mossyrock in the semi-round.

LaConner bumped Brewster in the quarter-final, and the Bears were bumped out of the tourney by Liberty in the second consolation round. Liberty went on to top Toutle Lake and place fifth at the state show.

Chewelah, the other NE qualifier, was bumped by Tri-Cities Prep in their opener, posted a 3-1 win over Lake Roosevelt in the first consolation round, then lost in the second consolation round to the Kittitas/Thorp team which Colfax swept in their last match.