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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE David Pan, Sports editor entsports@heraldnet.com Tony Dondero, Asst. Sports editor entsports@heraldnet.com

King's wins first state volleyball title

Months of hard work pays off for Knights, coach Bain



By Tony Dondero

Enterprise reporter

YAKIMA

The smiling faces of the King's players, coaches, parents and fans at the Yakima SunDome said it all.

Primed for the moment all season, the No. 1-ranked King's volleyball team did not disappoint.

King's claimed its first state volleyball title, taking the Class 1A crown with a 25-21, 26-24, 19-25, 25-18 win over Castle Rock, Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Yakima SunDome.

"It was hard, it was tough. Our whole team knew we were the best out there," said senior outside hitter Laura Friar, who led the Knights with 23 kills. "We had to prove it and we did."

Coach Steve Bain celebrated the championship and his 56th birthday. For the last six years Bain and his players have built the program into one of the finest in the state. The last two years King's lost epic matches in the 1A semifinals to Colfax, which dropped down to 2B this year, and captured that classification's title.

"We have been knocking on the door the last few years and we finally made a breakthrough," Bain said. "We played really well today. I thought we played well throughout the tournament. I think the thing that kept us going through the whole tournament was our defense."

King's cruised in the first game, but trailed the Rockets 23-17 in the second game before going on a 9-1 run to complete the comeback and take it 26-24. Senior Meagan Foote served six straight points to tie it at 23, and Laura Friar had a pair of kills and Jennifer Dame had a block to close it out.

The Knights lost game three and had to battle back in the fourth game, trailing 13-10, before rallying behind the serving of Rosy Boggs and four kills by Dionna Kirton to take an 18-13 lead they would never relinquish.

A kill by Friar after a long rally made it 24-18 and then a violation by Castle Rock led to a mob scene at center court.

Setter Anna Cesari finished with 50 assists in the final.

"That connects everything together," Bain said. "She made our hitters look good."

Foote, a defensive specialist, had 28 digs against Castle Rock.

"I thought Meagan Foote anchored that back row on defense," Bain said.

King's finished the season 20-1.

"Five months we've been together preparing for this moment," Foote said. "We were prepared thanks to Bain. His unbelievable coaching got us this far."

Bain, a research associate professor in the Department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at the University of Washington, takes an analytical approach, breaking down strategy and using statistical analysis. No detail is too small for Bain, his players say.

Beating Colfax in the final was the only thing that could have made it sweeter for the Knights.

"We wanted them to be (in 1A). We wanted to prove them wrong and take them," Friar said.

King's shook off a shaky start against Cascade of Leavenworth to reach the first state volleyball title match in school history.

The Knights dropped the first game 25-17 to third-ranked Cascade but came back to take the next three 25-20, 25-17, 25-20 to move on.

Kirton pounded home a pair of kills and Cascade's final serve went out of bounds as King's clinched the final game.

King's fell behind 7-0 to start the match and struggled to offset the dynamic senior duo of 6-footers, Eastern Washington-bound middle blocker Ashley Wright and Central Washington-bound outside hitter Jordan Offutt.

"We had a specific blocking thing set up and we didn't execute," Bain said.

But as the match wore on, King's got into position and minimized the impact of Cascade's hitters.

"We settled down and got on their tendencies," Bain said.

Cascade coach Marni McMahon said the Kodiaks "executed well and played good defense," in the first game but broke down defensively in the last three games.

"Our blocking and digging wasn't there," she said.

King's swept Annie Wright of Tacoma 25-21, 25-15, 25-22 in the quarterfinals. Friar had 18 kills and Cesari dished out 30 assists in the win on Friday.

The Knights started out the tournament with a 26-24, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20 win over Onalaska.

Friar led King's with 16 kills, Jordan Irish added 14 kills and Kirton had 12 kills. Foote had 27 digs and Cesari added 43 assists.

Senior defensive specialist Ann Peters did not play on Saturday because of a fractured shin bone.

King's graduates five seniors, Irish, Friar, Foote, Rosy Boggs and Peters.