Wilbur-Creston wins state title

YAKIMA - The Wilbur-Creston Wildcats were seeded as the No. 2-ranked 1B girls volleyball team in the state tournament.

So it wasn't a surprise Nov. 13-14 that they would advance to the state title game.

But few expected the Wildcats to beat the Oakesdale Nighthawks, who were ranked No. 1 and defending its 3-consecutive state titles. In fact, Oakesdale had won seven of the last eight state 1B titles.

But the Wildcats were ready to beat the odds, rolling through the championship bracket and spiking the Nighthawks, 3-1, in the championship game to bring home the state 1B title.

Initially, it didn't look like Wilbur-Creston was championship material.

The Wildcats opened the tournament against No. 18-seed Garfield-Palouse, which had to win a play-in game just to get into the bracket.

The Wildcats lost the first set 19-25, but bounced back to take the second, 25-13. They also won the third set, 25-17.

Garfield-Palouse, however, rallied to win the fourth set by a score of 25-19.

That set up a fifth set.

Tied at 11, the Wildcats won 4 of the next 5 points to take a 15-12 win and a 3-2 victory to advance to the state quarterfinals against the Mary Walker Chargers from Springdale.

Wilbur-Creston opened strong, winning the first two sets 25-15, 25-20. But the Chargers battled back, winning the third and fourth sets, 25-21 and 25-20.

In the tie-breaking fifth set, though, the Wildcats would open and finish strong, spiking the Chargers, 15-7 to reach the semifinals against No. 3-seed Fellowship Christian.

With a state trophy assured, the Wildcats confidence grew and Wilbur-Creston dispatched Fellowship Christian, 3-1. Set scores were 25-15, 25-2, 25-27 and 25-13.

Cross-bracket, Oakesdale was making short work of its opponents, cruising past Liberty Christian (Richland), Northwest Christian (Lacey) and Walla Walla Valley Academy, 3-1, to reach its 10th straight state title game.

Both the Nighthawks and Wildcats battled back and forth in the first set, with Oakesdale winning 25-23. The second set went back-and-forth, too, with Wilbur-Creston taking the set 27-25.

After that, Wilbur-Creston rolled to 25-19 and 25-20 set wins to take the state 1B title, 3-1.

Author Bio

Roger Harnack, Publisher

Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.

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