TACOMA — Both teams had good runs at the District 2/3 2A tournament, but the Port Angeles and Sequim volleyball squads fell just short of qualifying for the state 2A tournament.
Sequim came particularly close, coming within one set of making it, but the Wolves caught a bit of bad luck when No. 1-ranked North Kitsap ended up in their way in the consolation bracket Saturday. Port Angeles also found its path to state blocked by a high seed.
Still, Sequim came close to finally knocking off the Vikings. North Kitsap had beaten Sequim three times earlier this year, but had to go five sets to get past the Wolves 3-2 (26-24, 25-21, 25-27, 21-25, 15-9).
North Kitsap went into the tournament ranked No. 1, but was upset in the first round by No. 8 Fife, which went on to finish second in the tournament. That unexpectedly put the Vikings in the consolation bracket.
“It was an amazing match. It was amazing how well our girls played. It was stressful, but I’m so proud of them,” said Sequim coach Jennie Webber-Heilman.
Kendall Hastings led the Wolves with a whopping 28 kills, six stuff blocks and 18 digs. Jolene Vaara had 13 digs and Angel Wagner 12 digs.
No. 4 Sequim lost its first round match Friday in a close battle with No. 5 White River 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 27-25).
The Wolves beat Orting 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-23) to set up the North Kitsap match.
Meanwhile, Port Angeles had a very tough row to hoe to make state and came close to pulling it off. As a No. 10 seed, the Roughriders had to win three straight to qualify for the state tournament.
On Friday, the Riders came from behind to beat No. 15 Clover Park 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 19-25, 25-16, 15-3) behind 14 kills from Lily Halberg and 27 digs and three aces from libero Cindy Liang. Mary Halberg and Josephine Edgington each had three aces, as well, while Heidi Leitz had seven kills and Jasmine Messinger six kills.
The Riders then beat No. 7 Foster 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22), with Liang tallying 40 digs to give her 67 on the day. Edgington had six aces, while Paige Pangaro had four aces.
That put Port Angeles in a Saturday match against No. 3 Sammamish, which was upset in the first round by No. 6 Enumclaw. The Riders gave Sammamish a tough match, winning the first set, but ultimately fell 3-1 (22-25, 25-11, 25-16, 25-17).
Lily Halberg led the Riders with nine kills and 11 digs against Sammamish, while Heidi Leitz had six kills and Liang 27 digs. Edgington had 17 assists.
No. 2 seed Washington won the district tournament. Washington, Fife, White River, Enumclaw, North Kitsap and Sammamish all move on to state.
Port Angeles went 2-1 at district and finished its season 13-8, while Sequim went 1-2 at district and finished 12-8.
