The Streak is over.
And over in historic fashion, too.
In a back-and-forth volleyball match Thursday night between South Puget Sound League North Division heavyweights, Auburn Riverside upended Kentwood in five games – 19-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-16 and 15-7.
The match proved historic on two levels. First, the loss was Kentwood’s first North Division defeat since Sept. 23, 2004, ending a run of 56 consecutive league victories. Second, longtime Auburn Riverside coach Chris Leverenz received the first ejection of her coaching career.
“Coaches get excited in games like this, so do players,” Leverenz explained. “It gets intense and people are going to yell a little bit. I didn’t swear. I never swear. As a coach I am an example for the kids. I feel bad because I kind of let my kids down.”
Leverenz has coached volleyball at Auburn Riverside since 1995 and has never been ejected. In fact, she has received just one yellow card (a warning) during her entire 22-year coaching tenure.
And while the AR coach felt she let her players down, those same players did not let her down. In fact, after getting booted late in the third game, a game KW won 25-23, the Ravens stormed back to win games four and five.
“My kids got fired up,” Leverenz said. “My kids played out of their minds. The kids played, for the first time in a long time, for something bigger than themselves. They’re awesome kids.”
The flipside, however, is the end of The Streak. Kentwood’s last loss in league play five years ago also was to Auburn Riverside. Since that time, the Conquerors have won the last four SPSL North crowns.
“We’ve got to start a new (streak),” said Kentwood coach Bil Caillier, who was given a yellow card during the match for throwing a clipboard to the ground. “This group of girls had a streak of six and they had no control over how long the girls before them kept winning. That’s a combination of a lot of kids. (Losing) is something we didn’t want to see happen. But as far as goals for the season, it’s not the most important thing.”
The loss dropped Kentwood (5-1 in league, 9-2 overall) into second place in the SPSL North standings. Meanwhile, the win puts Auburn Riverside (5-0, 8-2) into the driver’s seat for the league crown. Auburn Riverside is the last team other than Kentwood to win the North title, doing so in 2004.
“This is big. Big,” Leverenz said.
Big, however, could also describe the play of several players on both sides of the net. Auburn Riverside’s Brooke Bray, a first-team all-leaguer, delivered a match-high 25 kills to go along with 18 digs. Many of Bray’s kills were set up by Brooklynn Bradbury, who dished out 45 assists. Maureen Sachs added 12 kills and three aces for the Ravens while Alison Wuerch was dominant at the net, recording five blocks.
Erin Campbell led Kentwood with 18 kills and 22 digs while Ally Patterson added a nearly identical line, collecting 15 kills and 22 digs. Defensively, Kentwood was paced by Korin Hedlund, who racked up 51 digs. Kayla Hanus added 42 assists for the Conquerors.
The difference in the match came in the trenches, Caillier said.
“We’re not as battled tested as we need to be,” he said. “Riverside is experienced enough to get through those tough situations. They have to be commended for that.”
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