Moses Lake denied a state bid by two points

WENATCHEE - It was right there.

Moses Lake, on the cusp of volleyball history, took an 11-7 fifth set lead over the host Wenatchee Panthers on Saturday night to determine the third and final seed out of the Region 6/7 tournament that would go on to the Class 4A state tournament.

But the Chiefs could not hold on and fell for the second time in two weekends by two points to the Panthers, losing a 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 20-25, 15-13) decision to Wenatchee who now heads to the Tri-Cities while Moses Lake could only return home with good feelings of a great, late season run.

"I am still struggling with this because I couldn't be prouder of our kids," Moses Lake head coach Amy Utter said. "It was a privilege to coach them. We had such great support from the school district and the community. These girls played with heart and energy and it makes it fun to be around them and people want to be around them. It's been a phenomenal season and a lot of fun."

Things started off great for the Chiefs (12-15) in the tournament as they came out firing in all phases of the game, taking apart Central Valley 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 26-24) in a Loser Out first round match.

It didn't look good at first as Moses Lake fell behind 6-1 early but that was about all the Bears had in their momentum tank as the Chiefs wrested control of the match soon after and put Central Valley on their heels.

"Besides doing what we were going to do, we planned on keeping the ball away from their libero and their team struggled with ball control," Utter said. "We came out a little nervous and tentative which is understandable since these were uncharted waters for our girls. But they settled down and did great."

Kayla Bernsen led Moses Lake with 11 kills and seven aces, Kaydren Dunkin chipped in nine kills and three blocks, and Sadie Nielsen contributed 11 digs and four kills.

Setter Markie Fancher finished with 14 assists and five digs for Moses Lake while Taylor Sonnenberg helped lead a sparkling defensive effort with 12 digs.

"The girls executed and they were focused since that was a season-ending or moving on match and they maintained their composure," Utter said. "We had to get on our marks defensively and dig, dig, dig. Central Valley tries to keep the ball in play and we had to maintain our composure and side out on those particular opportunities. It was a fun match."

From there they moved on to the semifinals where they would play Big 9 rivals Richland, and the Bombers showed why they are considered a top challenger for a state title, as they vanquished the Chiefs 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-18)

Richland was aided by the powerful offensive display of outside hitter Chelsey Bettinson - a Washington State Cougars recruit - who recorded 35 kills in her two matches.

"She's phenomenal and fun to watch, but not when she's playing against your team," Utter said. "She's obviously a marquee player on their team and what you don't see is that they are not a one-dimension, one-player team. They are well coached and they keep coming at you."

Bernsen ended up with 13 kills and three blocks against the Bombers, Dunkin added five kills and three blocks, and the Fancher setting sisters Markie (eight assists, 15 digs) and Kenzie (eight assists, 10 digs) helped run the offense.

Sonnenberg led Moses Lake with 11 digs.

"I felt like it was a frantic start in the first set and we rallied in the second set," Utter said. "They went to battle and played hard regardless. That second set loss took the wind out of our sails and then we had another tough start in set three. It's hard to rally from an early deficit."

Richland would lose the regional final to defending state champions, Mead.

Finally came their fifth match of the season against Wenatchee and for the fourth time the Chiefs couldn't muster enough points to earn the win on unfortunately, the season penultimate weekend.

Bernsen finished her high school volleyball career with 26 kills while classmate Dunkin ended up with 12 kills and seven blocks.

Senior Markie Fancher ended the night with 21 assists and 13 digs, and senior Mindy Robins closed her season out with 18 digs and seven kills.

All of the seniors played well enough to put the team in position to win, especially when leading 11-7 late.

"I think it was just of rallies that could go either way and  we got a little hesitant," Utter said. "There would be some swings and then when that happens its hard to undo that late in a match."

Nielsen added 21 digs and five kills while Sonnenberg finished with 25 digs.

"Just because this team is so much fun and deserving of recognition I am disappointed," Utter said. "It was not because of how they played, but it was a heartbreaking loss."