SPSL NORTH: AT A GLANCE
• Favorites: Kentwood, Auburn Riverside.
• Contenders: Kentlake, Kent-Meridian.
• Look out for: Kentridge.
• Notable: Kentwood enters the season on a 51-match SPSL North winning streak, but graduated standouts Jessie Genger (Gonzaga University), Lauren Campbell (Northern Arizona), Stephanie Shumaker (Lewis & Clark State) and Kate Grajewski (Idaho State). … Sally Eager, who most recently coached at Renton High, has taken over for Kim Zorn at Tahoma. Zorn, who stepped down at the end of last season, spent five years with the Bears. … Auburn Riverside’s Brooke Bray is the lone returning first-team all-leaguer in the SPSL North. The league returns just second-team all-leaguers: Cherene O’Hara (Kent-Meridian) and Aryn McCarthy (Kentlake). Kent-Meridian and Kentridge each return a league-high four starters. … Kentlake has finished second to Kentwood in league play for four straight years. And despite graduating top players Melissa Kozy and Sarah Ralph, the Falcons return enough talent with Aryn McCarthy, Riley Butler and McKenna Herron to once again be a factor. … Kentlake (3), Auburn Riverside (2) and Kentwood (4) have accounted for the last nine SPSL North titles. … With Nicole Faircough (libero), Jaclyn Onosko (opposite side), Manisha Walia (middle blocker) and Kelsey Kirkland (outside hitter) all returning, Kentridge has the firepower to challenge the heavyweights. … Kentridge’s Ashley Nguyen, a first-team all-leaguer last year, is now competing at Highline Community College. Former teammate Marissa Fujimoto is now playing at Bellevue College (formerly Bellevue CC).
• Outlook: More than any season in the past five years, the SPSL North has a new look this year. Why? Because of the extreme wealth of talent that has graduated. Auburn Riverside and Kentwood were listed as the favorites in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Ravens return the league’s top player in Bray. But until somebody knocks them off, something that hasn’t happened since 2004, the Conquerors are the team to beat.
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