TACOMA — Port Angeles earned a No. 2 state seed after winning two of three matches at the West Central District Class 2A volleyball tournament this weekend.
The Roughriders (16-3) quickly earned a state berth by dispatching Olympic 3-0 on Friday evening in the second round.
The Olympic League’s No. 2 seed then beat No. 1-seeded Interlake (15-6) in the semifinals before falling to White River in the tournament championship Saturday.
The crucial match was against Interlake when the Riders fell into a 2-0 hole before coming back to win the next three games for the 3-2 victory.
The Riders lost the first two games 22-25, 21-25 before winning the next three 25-20, 25-23, 15-11.
They were down 6-1 in the fifth game before setter Emily Drake brought them back with eight straight serving points for a 9-6 lead.
Interlake went ahead 10-9 before Kiah Jones’ serving gave the Riders a 13-10 advantage and then Lauren Norton finished it off with two straight points and the 15-11 win.
“We played very well,” Port Angeles coach Christine Halberg said.
“To come back like we did was huge. We kept hitting and attacking the ball.”
The comeback gives the Riders good experience for the 2A state tournament, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Evergreen State College in Olympia.
“That will help us at state,” Halberg said.
Kiah Jones led the Riders at the net with 29 kills and three blocks, and she also had 27 digs and two aces.
Darian Foley added 13 kills, seven blocks, four digs and three aces. She also was 19 of 20 serving.
Bailee Jones had a match-high six blocks for the Riders.
Drake ended up with 50 assists and six digs while Norton added 14 digs.
Port Angeles was emotionally spent for the title match, going quietly in the night, 25-23, 25-17, 25-16, to White River, the No. 2 South Puget Sound League team.
The Hornets had earlier upset Olympic League’s No. 1 seed North Kitsap in the semifinals.
“White River played very well; they blocked very well,” Halberg said.
Kiah Jones had 17 kills and seven digs in the match while foley added eight kills and four blocks.
Holli Williams had a team-high eight digs while Drake dished out 24 assists and had five digs and two blocks.
On Friday, the Riders beat Olympic 25-12, 26-24, 25-16
Kiah Jones earned 18 kills with 20 digs, three blocks and an ace while Autumn Ruddick added 11 kills, five digs and three blocks.
Foley was a perfect 22 of 22 serving with two aces and she also had seven kills and two blocks.
Drake had a match-high 29 assists and added 13 digs. She also served four aces.
Bailee Jones had six blocks while Krista Johnson put down nine kills.
Girls Soccer
Fife 1,
Port Angeles 0
RENTON — The Roughriders came oh so close to their top goal of the season.
Coming close, though, isn’t making them feel good.
“Our main goal was to get back to state,” coach Scott Moseley said.
“Falling short of that goal is very sad.”
The Riders (8-6-4) haven’t been to state since 1986.
Port Angeles fell one win short of that goal with the loss to the Fife Trojans (13-2-0) at Renton Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the West Central District playoffs.
The Riders, the No. 3 2A team from the Olympic League, played the No. 2 squad of South Puget Sound League even the whole game.
The teams knotted 8-8 for shots on goal and each squad had at least one great shot.
“They got their goal and we didn’t,” Moseley said. “It is all disappointing.”
Fife scored in the 15th minute on a 20-yard shot that just went over the head of the goalkeeper.
The best chance for Port Angeles came in the 75th minute when defensive standout Paxton Rodocker took a free kick from 20 yards out.
Fife’s keeper just got her fingertips on the ball to push it aside.
“We got some good looks and had good shots but they have a pretty decent keeper, and she kept us out of the net.
“It was a well-played game by both teams.”
Girls Swimming
PA 3rd, PT 5th
at district meet
RENTON — The Port Angeles Roughriders captured third place for the second year in a row while the upstart Class 1A Port Townsend Redskins claimed fifth place at the 2A West Central District championships Friday and Saturday.
The Riders will send nine athletes to the state championships, including all three relay teams while the Redskins will send six swimmers, including two of their relay teams.
“This is the second year that we finished in the top three, and last year was the first time we have done that,” Port Angeles coach Rich Butler said.
Port Townsend coach Anji Scalf also was pleased with how the Redskins competed.
“I’m very happy with my team’s performance,” Scalf said. “They are excited for the next stage of competition next weekend.”
The next stage is the 2A state championships at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way on Friday and Saturday.
Going to state in two events are Brooke Sires, Ashlee Reid and Tracie Macias for the Riders and Serena Vilage for the Redskins.
Interlake won the 15-team event with 274 points while Sumner was second with 203 and Port Angeles third with 184 at the Lindbergh High School pool.
Port Townsend’s 107 points was good enough for fifth.
Sires earned state berths in the 200-yard freestyle with a sixth-place finish and the 100 free with fourth place.
The top six swimmers win automatic state berths while some athletes with strong times have a shot at wild-card state spots to help fill out the field.
Reid will go to state in the 100 free (third) and the 100 backstroke, also third, while Tracie Macias has prequalified state times in the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley.
Vilage will compete for Port Townsend in the 2A state meet in the 50 free and 100 breaststroke races.
Other Riders making it to state are Tarah Erickson in the 50 free (fourth place), Allison Hodgin in 1-meter diving, Kelsey Macias in 500 free (fourth) and Kelly Winn in 500 free (sixth).
Hodgin was runner-up in diving with a total score of 301.60.
Port Angeles relay teams going to state are the 400 free relay, second in 3:59.69 with Sires, Erickson, Reid and Tracie Macias; the 200 free relay in fifth with Winn, Kaitlin Fairchild, Kelsey Macias and Sires; and the 200 medley relay in third (2:00.31) with Reid, Kelsey Macias, Tracie Macias and Erickson.
Port Townsend’s two state relay teams are the 200 medley relay with Madison Braden, Olivia Cremeans, Vilage and Rose Ridder, and the 200 free relay of Renada Walcome, Tanner Matthew, Ridder and Vilage.
Raven Elias and Sarah Allen of Chimacum both swam at the district championships.
