Lions' championship run stopped short

YAKIMA - The Moses Lake Christian Lady Lions had just one loss all year entering the 1B state volleyball tournament at the SunDome.

But another loss in Thursday's state quarterfinals, a four-game setback to the top-ranked Tekoa-Oakesdale Nighthawks, derailed the Lions' run at the state championship almost as soon as it began.

Moses Lake Christian volleyball loses in state quarterfinals

YAKIMA - The Moses Lake Christian Lady Lions had just one loss all year entering the 1B state volleyball tournament at the SunDome.

But another loss in Thursday's state quarterfinals, a four-game setback to the top-ranked Tekoa-Oakesdale Nighthawks, derailed the Lions' run at the state championship almost as soon as it began.

Moses Lake Christian had gone 15-1 during the regular season and district playoffs, the lone blemish coming to the Manson Trojans, one of the state's best 2B teams. But Lions head coach Dean Spurbeck knew his girls were in for a battle when he saw the tournament draw sheet and spotted undefeated Tekoa-Oakesdale looming in the second round.

Still, there was nothing Spurbeck could do to change the draw. He could only prepare his girls to play their best.

"I don't know how they make the selections," he said after Thursday's first-round sweep of Crescent. "It is what it is. We're not going to worry a lot about it."

When the No. 1 Nighthawks and No. 2 Lions finally met up Thursday evening, there was plenty at stake - bragging rights, a spot in Friday's semifinals and what appeared to be a less bumpy road to the championship.

Moses Lake Christian landed the first blow, taking game one 25-23 behind the passing of senior setter Ashley Cole and a strong team effort in the serving department.

"First game, we served and passed really well, so that definitely helped us out," Spurbeck said. "In the next two games our serving wasn't there and they served us a lot tougher. We didn't get the passes we needed to run the offense very well."

The Nighthawks tied the match with a 25-14 win in game two, put the Lions on the cusp of elimination with a 25-19 game three win, then finished things off with a tooth-and-nail 25-21 final in game four.

Junior outside hitter Esther Timofeyev wasn't about to let her team go quietly. She slammed down 24 kills and collected 18 digs against the Nighthawks.

"A lot of the time, they really couldn't touch Esther," Spurbeck said. "She was the go-to girl. She played well."

Cole distributed 31 assists for the match. Senior Heidi Sandberg had 12 digs and nine kills, while senior Lindsay Brader led the defensive effort with 19 digs.

The Lions had scouted Tekoa-Oakesdale at the Southeast district tournament, and Spurbeck was a bit concerned with how his squad would match up in the middle. That didn't turn out to be the thing that did in the Lions.

"They didn't block us that much," he said. "It was more not getting a good pass to get a good set and get the ball down."

The Lions play a familiar iar foe today at noon in the Entiat Tigers, a league rival Moses Lake Christian has defeated twice this year. The winner moves on to play at 6:30 p.m. against Klickitat or Lopez Island for fourth and seventh places; the loser is done.

"I just told them we've got to pick it up and we can place the best we've ever placed," Spurbeck said, noting the Lions finished seventh in 2006. "You can either give up now and get nothing or you can keep playing and get the best trophy you can get."

Spurbeck expects a tougher test from Entiat, who nearly overcame a two-games-to-none deficit in their quarterfinal match with Odessa.

"It's not necessarily a cake walk," he said. "We know how they play, but they know how we play too."

Moses Lake Christian 3, Crescent 0

The Lions looked sharp against what appeared to be a young and overwhelmed Loggers squad in Thursday afternoon's opener. Crescent has just two seniors on its roster and struggled with Moses Lake Christian's accurate serving.

Sandberg and Chelsea Allsbrook had a pair of long serving runs to spark the Lions in a 25-13 game one win. Timofeyev immediately set the tone at the net, picking up several of her match-high 18 kills. She added eight digs and four aces.

Sandberg, making her last state appearance, said the team's strength right now is "keeping our intensity up," and the team refused to take Crescent lightly.

"(The coaches) said not to overlook them, that they're here at state because they're obviously good," Sandberg said.

Cole, who finished with 31 assists and four digs, served a pair of aces during a long run that pushed the Lions' lead to 10-3 in game two. They cruised from there, winning 25-12.

Game three wasn't much different as the Loggers failed to improve their serve receive or contest many long rallies. Spurbeck inserted his backups for the last half of the game, a highlight of the match in his mind.

"It was nice to have gotten everybody in during that game - everybody on the team played," he said.

Sandberg had nine kills, eight digs and five aces in the win. She said the Lions' attitude heading into this state tournament is different than past years.

"The other years we were just happy to be here," she said. "We're coming to compete and we want to win."