Gar-Pal volleyball defies the odds at State

YAKIMA, Wash. - Heading into the WIAA 1B State tournament as the No. 18 seed, the Garfield-Palouse (Gar-Pal) Vikings put up a fight, but fell short of bringing home some hardware.

The Vikings defeated No. 15 Naselle Comets in the opening round and took the eventual State champions, the Wilbur-Creston-Keller Wildcats, to five sets and only lost by three points. Gar-Pal finished its season with a loss to the No. 7 seed Waterville-Mansfield.

In their first match of the State tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Vikings defeated Naselle, 3-1. The Vikings dropped the first set, but quickly recovered and won the next three. Set scores were 13-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-14.

The Vikings went on to play the No. 2 seed and State champions Wilbur-Creston-Keller later the same day. Gar-Pal fought hard and took the Wildcats to five sets, winning the first and third, but falling in the fifth, 15-12.

Set scores for the match were 19-25, 25-13, 25-17, 19-25, 15-12.

Dropping to the loser-out bracket and having hardly any rest, Gar-Pal faced the No. 7-seed Waterville-Mansfield just one hour after its previous match. The Vikings lost the match, 3-0, with set scores of 25-12, 25-21, 25-21, ending their season.

Gar-Pal finished with a record of 16-7 on the season. Seniors graduating are defensive specialist Camryn Blankenchip, middle blocker Hailey Beckner and libero Iris Turner.

Juniors Elena Flansburg, Aubrey Chambers, Clare Bowechop, Morgan Lentz and Alyssa Olson will be the leaders of the Vikings next season.