Lady Lions win districts

Lions, Devils qualify for state tournament

KITTITAS - The Moses Lake Christian Lady Lions girls volleyball team defeated the Wilson Creek Devils for the third time this season to win the North Central Washington 1B district volleyball championship and earn a trip to the 1B state tournament.

The Lady Lions defeated the Devils in five games Saturday to advance.

Moses Lake Christian won the first game 25-23 before Wilson Creek rebounded to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 victory of their own in game two.

The Lady Lions ran away in the third game 25-14 to take a 2-1 match lead.

With a guaranteed trip to the state tournament and the district championship on the line, Wilson Creek dug deep and sent the match to a championship-deciding game five with a 26-24 victory in game four.

While the Devils held the momentum, sending the match to five games, Moses Lake Christian rallied to win the match 3-2 with a 15-4 victory in game five.

With a five-game match victory, the Lady Lions automatically qualified for the 2008 1B Washington Interscholastic Activities Association state volleyball tournament this weekend at the Yakima SunDome.

Senior Esther Timofeyev led Moses Lake Christian with 25 kills and eight blocks. She also had 15 digs.

Senior Kaylee Firouzi had 31 assists and Rebecca Verhage added six aces.

Wilson Creek's Ksenje Fredere had 23 kills for the Devils.

Brynna Stevens added six aces and Jackie Treat had 39 assists in the loss.

Moses Lake Christian head coach Dean Spurbeck said he was surprised at how well Wilson Creek competed against his Lady Lions.

"I think Wilson Creek played well, they had a good crowd," he said. "I don't think we played bad, but the (Wilson Creek) crowd definitely made an impact in the (match)."

The Lady Lions qualified for the state tournament with the victory and Spurbeck said his team earned the victory.

"(We) had to work hard for everything (we) got," he said. "Wilson Creek got a lot of stuff back up. It was a good game."

After defeating Wilson Creek for the district championship and winning the regular season league championship, Moses Lake Christian hopes to add a solid performance at the state tournament.

"I am very proud (of them)," he said. "We had to replace a lot of girls to get (to state). They filled in and played well enough to get back their."

Moses Lake Christian will take on the Odessa Tigers in the first round of the 1B state volleyball tournament Friday at 2 p.m.

Wilson Creek 3

Thorp 1

KITTITAS - The Wilson Creek Devils rebounded from an earlier loss in the district championship to defeat the Thorp Tigers and qualify for the 2008 1B Washington Interscholastic Activities Association state volleyball tournament this weekend in Yakima.

The Devils defeated the Tigers 25-20 in game one before Thorp rebounded to tie the match at 1-1 with a 27-25 victory in game two.

With the districts' final playoff spot on the line, the Devils rallied to win game three 25-10 and game four 25-18 to qualify for the state tournament.

Junior Ksenje Fredere led Wilson Creek with 19 kills and three blocks and Holly Wilson added 12 kills.

Wilson Creek will take on Crescent High School Friday at noon in the first round of the 1B state volleyball tournament.