BATTLE GROUND SENIOR Brooke Van Sickle (3) is shown here in a match earlier this season at Prairie. VanSickle and her Tiger teammates finished fourth at the Class 4A state tournament Nov. 13-14 in Kennewick.
RIDGEFIELD’S ANIKA NOCLI (4) is shown here attempting a block during the Class 2A district tournament at Tumwater earlier this season. The Spudders finished third this past weekend at the 2A state tournament in Lacey.
Battle Ground earned a top-4 finish at the Class 4A state volleyball tournament for the second consecutive year and Ridgefield and Woodland brought back trophies from the 2A state tournament this past weekend.
Battle Ground, which finished third at the 4A state tournament last year, advanced to the state semifinals for the second straight time. The Tigers cruised past Eisenhower 3-0 in the first round and then needed only four sets to defeat Monroe in the quarterfinals. Both games were played on Fri., Nov. 13 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.
Battle Ground then lost a heart-breaking, five-set match in the semifinals to eventual-champion Curtis. The individual game scores were 28-26, 21-25, 25-23, 27-29 and 15-13.
In the match for third place, the Tigers also were involved in a highly competitive five-set match, losing to West Valley (Yakima) 3-2. Battle Ground won two of the first three games in the match before dropping the final two games to finish fourth. The individual scores were 22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22 and 15-10.
Class 2A
Greater St. Helens League mates Ridgefield and Woodland each advanced to the semifinals of the Class 2A state volleyball tournament played Nov. 13-14 at St. Martin’s University in Lacey.
The Spudders won their first two games on Friday, blanking Liberty (Issaquah) 3-0 in the first round and then topping Archbishop Murphy 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Ridgefield then lost a grueling, five-set match in the semifinals to Ellensburg, 25-16, 19-25, 25-22, 15-25, 15-13.
Woodland advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 win over Pullman in the first round and then the Beavers earned a 3-1 victory over White River in the second round. In the semifinals, eventual-champion Burlington-Edison topped Woodland 3-1. The individual game scores were 25-27, 25-16, 25-17, 25-11.
In the match for third place, the GSHL foes needed five sets to determine a winner, with Ridgefield prevailing 25-15, 19-25, 9-25, 25-17, 15-6.
Class 3A
Prairie advanced to the Class 3A state volleyball tournament, played Nov. 13-14 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.
The Falcons lost their first two matches and were eliminated from the tournament. Prairie lost to fellow GSHL member Columbia River 3-0 in the first round and then was eliminated with a 3-1 loss to Ferndale in the consolation bracket.
