Knights girls soccer, volleyball celebrate senior nights
Royal junior Jaya Griffin leaps up to pass the ball over the net.
Ian Bivona
Royal senior Sam Fitzhugh poses for a photo being taken by head coach Jens Jensen before the Knights’ match against La Salle. Fitzhugh scored a goal in the win.
Royal players celebrate after the Knights’ 2-0 win over La Salle on senior night.
Royal senior Kate Larsen serves the ball during the first set against La Salle. Larsen had many blocks in the game, including two momentum-shifting blocks in the third set.
Members of the Royal girls soccer team clap for their fellow teammates during Tuesday’s senior night ceremonies before a match against La Salle. Seniors on the team were given black and gold balloons.
Royal volleyball senior Jocelyn Jenks walks across the court with flowers in hand during the senior night ceremonies on Oct. 25.
ROYAL CITY – Both the Royal girls soccer and volleyball teams honored their seniors on Tuesday night, with both teams facing La Salle in their final regular season home games of 2022.
The Knights earned the win in girls soccer, defeating the Lightning 2-0. On the volleyball court, the Knights took RPI top-ten La Salle to five sets, eventually falling 3-2.
“Any time you beat La Salle, I don’t care if they’re down, it makes no difference, we don’t get many of them,” Royal girls soccer head coach Jens Jensen said. “I think the girls that have scored on La Salle, that have scored in my time coaching, you could put on one hand. Tonight we got a goal from two seniors, on senior night.”
Royal seniors Sam Fitzhugh and Ivy Delay both found the back of the net in the girls soccer win, with the goals being assisted by seniors as well. Delay assisted on Fitshugh’s goal, and Delay’s goal was assisted by senior Alondra Morales.
“They’re a really good group of girls,” Jensen said. “You can see they have some good speed. Last year they went to state, it’s the first time we’ve been to state since the 90s. So, it’s great. It’s a really fun group of girls.”
Senior center defender Haley Piercy described the night as “surreal.”
“Senior night is pretty surreal,” Piercy said. “I was a little emotional coming into it, I didn’t know what to expect. It’s definitely something special, especially with this group of girls.”
Royal girls soccer is now 7-8 overall this season with a 5-4 record in conference play. Bracket play for the South Central Athletic Conference district championship begins on Saturday, and the No. 3 seed Knights will travel to Toppenish at 1 p.m. Jensen said the strength of the Knights has been their defense this season,
“If we score, sometimes only one is enough – and that’s kind of how we play,” Jensen said. “If we score, then we’re a real pain for people.”
Piercy added that the Knights have grown as a unit as the season progressed, navigating the losses of last year’s seniors.
“Last year we lost a lot of seniors, so I think coming in as a senior I was a little nervous,” Piercy said. “I think that as the season’s progressed we really improved, and we’ve been able to show what we’ve got.”
On the volleyball court, the Knights are experiencing one of their best seasons in some time. Royal is 8-8 overall this year, and has qualified for the district tournament for the first time in 13 years. Senior Kate Larsen said that Royal has had a multitude of coaches during her high school career, and second-year head coach Matthew Stutsman has guided the team to success.
“It’s been a lot,” Larsen said. “We had five different coaches in three years, and that was pretty crazy. We’ve had (Stutsman) for the past two years. This year’s been really crazy because we’ve won more games this year than we have in the past three years combined.”
Royal volleyball honored its seniors with a pregame ceremony that had players take to the court with family members. Before stepping onto the court, players ran down the line of teammates giving out high-fives.
“I just love all of them,” Larsen said. “They’re some of my best friends, and I’ve been to school with them since freshman year. That’s been awesome.”
Stutsman, who spent three years as a varsity assistant at Othello before coming to Royal, said the seniors have faced some challenges throughout their careers as Knights.
“Our seniors, they’ve been through a lot the past four years,” he said. “COVID’s really hampered them, and so being able to play two full seasons – this is kind of what they wanted. They wanted to be able to compete, and La Salle’s a top-ten team in the state.”
The Knights battled from being down 2-1 to force a game-deciding fifth set. Despite taking an 8-5 lead in the fifth set, the Lightning were able to come back to win 15-8.
Like the girls soccer team, the Royal volleyball team will travel to Toppenish as a No. 3 seed in the district tournament. The match begins at 6 p.m. on Nov. 1. To advance to state for the first time since 2009, the Knights will have to win two games.
Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.
