<< Previous   of   Next >>

ADVERTISEMENT

CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

A. Murphy finishes 2nd in volleyball

By Aaron Lommers
For The Enterprise

KENNEWICK

It was a year of many firsts for the Archbishop Murphy volleyball team.

The Wildcats won their first 2A District 1 championship, they were victorious in their first-ever first round state tournament match, and advanced to their first-ever state title match.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the firsts ended there.

Archbishop Murphy came up short of winning its first-ever state championship, when the Pullman Greyhounds defeated Archbishop Murphy in five sets (25-22, 25-21, 17-25, 20-25, 15-12) to win the 2A state championship on Nov. 14.

“It was a good match,” Archbishop Murphy coach Jeff Curtis said. “Both teams played with heart and desire.”

Curtis credited his team with handling pressure all season. They showed it Saturday night.

After falling in the first two sets, it looked like the Wildcats’ run to the championship had hit a roadblock. But the team responded, leading wire-to-wire in the third set, which they eventually won 25-17.

In the fourth set they trailed Pullman 11-10, but ripped off nine straight points and held on for the 25-20 set victory.

In the fifth set, the Greyhounds proved to be too much. Pullman (21-0) jumped out to a quick four-point advantage and withstood a Murphy challenge to win the championship.

“The level of their offense was probably at another level above us,” Curtis said.

Curtis credited the intelligence of his team as one of the things that kept them in the match.

The championship loss to Pullman was the first time Archbishop Murphy had lost since a defeat to King’s, the 1A state champion on Oct. 1.

Becca Gotz had three aces, 15 kills and three blocks, Savannah Fletcher had two aces, 12 kills and seven blocks, Dani Baehm had five aces, four kills, 62 assists, two blocks and eight digs and Hannah Linsenmayer had six aces and 52 digs to lead the Wildcats in the championship match.

“This is the best we have ever done,” senior middle-hitter Fletcher said. “We have really come far and proven that Archbishop Murphy has a good volleyball team and a good program.”

It was the kind of resilience the Wildcats (19-2) showed earlier in the day when they knocked off Fife in a semifinal match (14-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-21, 18-16).

Curtis didn’t think that the earlier marathon match had anything to do with his team’s loss in the championship.

“I think they were just up against the highest level of team we played all year,” Curtis said.

In the semifinal game, the Wildcats trailed two sets to one, but escaped with game four 25-21.

Murphy then took a 5-0 lead in the decisive fifth set and led 14-9 late, only to see Fife come back and tie the match at 14-14. After exchanging points, ATM finally escaped when Dani Baehm found a hole in the Fife defense and with a little tap over the net the Wildcats escaped with the grueling five-set win.

Fletcher had 13 kills and eight blocks, Gotz had 18 kills and Stefani Bartz had eight kills and two blocks in the win over Fife.

“They don’t get stressed very easily,” Curtis said after the semifinal.

Led by Fletcher, who had 15 blocks on the day, defense also was a key for the Wildcats.

“I have never had a team that can block like this team,” Curtis said.

Curtis, in his first year as head coach of the Wildcats, delivered something that had never been done before in the history of the program, but he is quick to give the credit to his players.

“I’ve got a wonderful group of girls, 12 of the most outstanding girls, on and off the court,” Curtis said.