Moses Lake Christian Academy finishes seventh at state

Moses Lake Christian Academy falls to Inchelium in final game

SPOKANE — The Lady Lions took on Rosalia Saturday to stay alive in the 1B State Volleyball tournament and won 23-25, 25-10, 25-12, 25-17.

"We had to adjust to their serving," said MLCA head coach Dean Spurbeck. "They were serving deep and we just needed to get some good passing going."

In game two that is exactly what the Lady Lions did during their few stints on defense.

Rosalia began the game earning a sideout but were stopped cold by a kill from Lindsay Dietzen who then added two points to the Moses Lake score with the help of Bethany Verhage who had back-to-back spikes to finish off the points.

The Lady Lions continued to build a lead with one- and two-point possessions until Heidi Sandberg stepped behind the service line. Sandberg served for five consecutive points that included point-winning work at the net by Dietzen and Esther Timofeyev.

Moses Lake's Ashley Cole finished off game two, serving three straight aces for the win.

The Lady Lions came back from an early 5-1 deficit in game three.

Dietzen was the spark MLCA needed, serving for a tie before Rosalia was able to earn a sideout and a 1-point lead. Timofeyev cut the Rosalia possession short with a kill and returned serve to the Lady Lions.

Then it was Cole's turn to give her team a scoring run, earning seven points, including three aces, and giving the Lady Lions a 13-6 lead.

Chelsea Allsbrook extended the Moses Lake lead late in the game, serving three points and getting a little help from Dietzen who finished off the last point of the possession with a spike.

After a Sandberg ace put MLCA within one point of the game three win, Rosalia earned serve but could not hold it and the Lady Lions took the game on the sideout.

Rosalia played a tougher game four but Verhage served four late points to put Moses Lake out of reach and the Lady Lions won the match on a sideout.

The win moved MLCA into the fourth-seventh place match against Inchelium.

The Lady Lions fell behind early, losing the first two games 25-15, 25-22 but came back in game three. Inchelium took an early lead in the game, going up 10-7 before siding out.

Timofeyev moved behind the line and served her team into a 7-point lead. The possession included some hustle play by Verhage at the net and three aces from Timofeyev.

Inchelium continued to battle and pulled within four but could not surmount the deficit. A kill by Allsbrook ended the game with a win for the Lady Lions.

Inchelium answered in game four with a 25-18 win to take the fourth place finish.

"We just gave them too big a head start and by the time we started to play our game it was too late," said Spurbeck.

Friday Moses Lake defeated Mary Knight 25-16, 25-10, 25-11 in the first round of play and lost to Curlew 26-28, 9-25, 14-25 to fall into the losers bracket.

Dietzen finished the tournament with 27 kills, 26 digs, four blocks and 11 aces. Verhage had 34 kills, 23 digs, 12 blocks and eight aces. Sandberg had 18 kills, 20 digs, six blocks and five aces. Timofeyev had 28 kills, 18 digs, 18 blocks and 10 aces. Allsbrook had 11 kills, 15 digs, one block and three aces. Cole had five digs, 12 aces and 112 assists.

"I really enjoyed coaching this year's group of girls. I don't know how many coaches can say that," said Spurbeck. "Our seniors will be missed because they were solid leaders and good players. Next year, it will be tough to fill their shoes. Overall I was proud of how everyone performed over the weekend."