Set, Bump, Smash: Volleyball to State

 
By Caity Wilson

“I’ve got it!” Jump up, smash the ball, and the crowd goes wild. The Jills proved themselves worthy of getting to state.

“We were looked at as the underdogs at state and we proved that we deserved to be there and could compete with the other teams,” said Jennifer Godinho, Varsity Girls Volleyball Coach.

The first game the Jills played at state, they lost against West Valley, who took 4th 25-10, 12-25, 21-25, 16-25. However they came back for a win against Grandview 16-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-8. Unfortunately, their last game was a loss against Anacortes, who took 5th 21-25, 25-11, 17-25, 13-25.

RAL, Mark Morris, and Hockinson are the teams from our league that qualified for state this year.

“This was  a great group of kids. When they worked together, it was beautiful,” said Godinho.

RAL went to state in ‘05 (lost first two matches and done), and also again in ‘06 (made it to semifinals, then lost to take 6th).

“If we would have won one more match, we would have been in the top 8, and gotten a trophy,” said Godinho.

Sydney Leach 10, Meagan Hollis 9, Kendra Shine 11, Hannah Johnson 11, Bekah Spurgeon 12, Kylee McGeary 11, Kara Clapp 11, Aryn Aston 12, Rachel Morrow 11, Skylar Clark 12, Katie Sarysz 12, and  Miranda Wilson 12 were the ladies that helped bring RAL back into the state competition.

“There was no superstar. Each one contributed, and their skills were needed in order for us to succeed,” said Godinho.

The Jills were 4th in league with 5-5 record. They took 3rd in districts, then ranked 16th in state and received 11th place.

“State was a really great experience. We had lots of fun and we all played amazing,” said Sydney Leach 10, one of the RAL volleyball players.