KD Skillingstad (right) attempts to set up a hit for her teammates.
The Cheney High volleyball team, who already have the Great Northern League and District 7 championships in their trophy case, are hoping to add one more piece of hardware when they travel to Lacey, Wash., to compete in the 2A state volleyball tournament at St. Martin's University, Nov. 11-12.
The Blackhawks defeated Central Washington Athletic Conference's Othello, 3-2, in a regional crossover match, Nov. 5, to earn their first state tournament appearance since 1987.
"At the beginning of the season, I had the girls set goals and state has been one of them," head coach Heather Zorrozua said. "We've done a good job of checking off boxes so far, including league, districts and the crossover match."
Against Othello (25-21, 25-16, 27-29, 29-31 and 15-10), Cheney won the first two sets and had the match in the bag before the Huskies, who Zorrozua referred to as a "great defensive team," came back to win the next two and force a fifth set.
"After the first two sets, I was pretty confident but my girls have this tendency to not quite show up and compete when they are in the third set," Zorrozua said.
Zorrozua added that setter Peyton Stark was taken out of the match after she injured her ankle in the third set. Rylie Pease was moved to the setter position for the remainder of the match.
"We were able to come out in the fifth set and get a good lead at the beginning to finish the match," Zorrozua said.
Pease led the match with 15 kills while Stark had 25 assists. Ally Jones recorded 28 digs and KD Skillingstad notched five blocks.
Cheney opens state tournament play against South Puget Sound League champion Steilacoom on Friday at 11 a.m. Steilacoom, who was 17-1 in the regular season, advanced to state after they defeated River Ridge 3-0 in a loser out match.
If Cheney defeats Steilacoom, they will play the winner of the North Kitsap-Woodland match later that evening.
"State is a whole new world for us, we're pretty excited," Zorrozua said.
Zorrozua added that Stark's injury was on the "same ankle, but in a different spot."
Stark sprained her ankle during the Blackhawks' Sept. 10 match against Clarkston. Zorrozua shifted to a new formation and had Pease and Skillingstad play setter after Stark left the match.
"Peyton has been working with a trainer all weekend and we plan on resting her until we leave for state," Zorrozua said. "We're hoping she will be ready, but if not, we have a backup plan that has worked before."
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
Reader Comments(0)