They returned just two starters this season and were pegged for a letdown.<\/p>\n
Yet, the Kentwood High volleyball team found itself in familiar territory last week, playing in the Class 4A state tournament in Kennewick. It was Kentwood\u2019s sixth-straight trip the state\u2019s biggest tournament.<\/p>\n
The Conquerors opened the tournament with a resounding bang on Thursday afternoon, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to upset Issaquah in five games 13-25, 15-25, 26-24, 25-23, 16-14. The win over the Eagles proved to be the high point for the Conquerors, who were quickly dispatched by South Puget Sound League North Division rival Auburn Riverside and Lewis & Clark en route to an early exit from the tournament.<\/p>\n
Despite coming home a day early, the season remained a success, Kentwood coach Bil Caillier insisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get in the moment, make some key wins and generate some hope and wonder what more you could have accomplished,\u201d Caillier said. \u201cLosing is tough. After a day, you realize how much you accomplished as a team. And this team accomplished a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed it did. Outside hitters Erin Campbell and Elle Mortensen were the team\u2019s only returning starters this fall. In addition, the Conquerors graduated league co-MVPs Jessie Genger (Gonzaga University), Lauren Campbell (Northern Arizona) and first-team all-leaguer Stephanie Shumaker (Lewis & Clark State).<\/p>\n
Many doubted the Conquerors had what it would take to make a return trip to state. Not only returning, but coming up with a win in their first match was big, especially when considering how Kentwood went about grabbing the victory. Issaquah overpowered Kentwood in the first two games, before the Conquerors stole the momentum and the match.<\/p>\n
Erin Campbell led the charge with 12 kills followed by Ally Patterson and Lychelle Roberts-Kirby, both of whom shipped in 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so exciting,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cWe played really, really hard. The first two games were a struggle, I guess we had to get warmed up. In the last three games, we just turned it on.\u201d<\/p>\n
As quickly as the Conquerors turned it on, that same momentum was turned off in a three-game quarterfinal sweep to Auburn Riverside. Auburn Riverside, which ended Kentwood\u2019s 56-match league winning streak last month, cruised to the 25-16, 25-18, 25-11 win.<\/p>\n
Ravens\u2019 star Brooke Bray, who pounded out a school-record 51 kills in an opening-tournament win over Richland, tore apart the Conquerors with 21 kills.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we had a good chance against them,\u201d Caillier said. \u201cBrooke Bray just did things that we didn\u2019t respond to, and we had a hard time stopping her. It\u2019s not just the Brooke show, but she definitely stands out. She\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ravens\u2019 five-game win over Richland earlier in the day helped spark the victory over Kentwood, AR coach Chris Leverenz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a tough match, a hard-hitting intense game of volleyball. It was crazy, one thing after another,\u201d Leverenz noted. \u201cI definitely think we were ready for Kentwood. I think that win over Richland helped us get ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after falling to the Ravens, the Conquerors had to turn around and play state-tournament nemesis Lewis & Clark. Lewis & Clark knocked off Kentwood in each of the last two state tournaments.<\/p>\n
Last Thursday, the Tigers did it for a third year in a row, but this time they officially eliminated the Conquerors from trophy contention 18-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-20.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t sustain what we started in the first game and I think some girls were exhausted,\u201d Caillier said. \u201cThey kept fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell led the Kentwood attack with 17 kills while Roberts-Kirby chipped in 10. Hedlund pulled up 25 digs in the loss while Hanus dished out 40 assists.<\/p>\n
Despite the loss and missing out on a trophy for the first time in six years, the season remained a success.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s an accomplishment all on its own just to make it to state,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cA lot of teams don\u2019t get to go. Gig Harbor is a good team and they didn\u2019t make it. We played our hardest and it didn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They returned just two starters this season and were pegged for a letdown. Yet, the Kentwood High volleyball team found itself in familiar territory last week, playing in the Class 4A state tournament in Kennewick. It was Kentwood\u2019s sixth-straight trip the state\u2019s biggest tournament. The Conquerors opened the tournament with a resounding bang on Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-11639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11639"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11639\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11639"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=11639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}