YAKIMA — Michelle Ford isn’t ready to give up on this season.
But the Camas volleyball coach is already excited about the next one.
The Papermakers went 1-1 on the opening day of the Class 4A state volleyball tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome, knocking off Issaquah, 3-0, before being swept by top-ranked Kentridge.
The Papermakers need one more victory Saturday morning to assure themselves of a trophy.
“That would be big for them,” Allen said. “We’re a really, really young team. To be able to get a trophy here would be something to build on.”
The Papermakers (16-14), with 11 underclassmen, knew coming in they were in a tough half of the bracket. But they didn’t flinch in their opener against Issaquah — which came in with an impressive 20-3 record. Camas won in straight sets, 25-18, 25-18, 25-22.
But the Papermakers couldn’t sustain the momentum — or level of play — against a talented Kentridge team, which is ranked No. 9 nationally. Camas kept it close, but couldn’t finish, falling 25-21, 25-23, 25-20.
“That wasn’t our best match,” Allen said. “I wish we had played like we did this morning.”
Emma Villauz led the Papermakers with 10 kills, 12 assists and 10 digs.
Things don’t get much easier Saturday as they face No. 2 Tahoma of Maple Valley (32-4) at 9 a.m. The winner plays for fifth-place at 3 p.m.
3A volleyball
They took different routes — well, kind of — but Prairie and Mountain View are both still in the trophy hunt in the 3A state tournament at the SunDome.
Both owe their only tourney losses to red-hot Lakeside of Seattle.
Mountain View faced the Lions in the first round, falling 25-16, 25-16, 25-18.
Prairie, which opened with a 3-0 victory over Oak Harbor (25-23, 25-10, 25-21), got a shot at Lakeside in the quarterfinals. But the Falcons came up short, 25-23, 25-13, 21-25, 25-17.
Prairie (20-8) came in aiming to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish, and can still finish as high as fifth, but have to survive an elimination game Saturday at 9 a.m. against Wilson of Tacoma. The Falcons beat the Rams 3-2 a week ago in the semifinals of the 3A bi-district tournament.
“We just need to regroup and refocus on the task at hand tomorrow,” coach Jen Palmer said, noting her team had too many breakdowns against Lakeside.
Mountain View (24-8) is back at state for the first time since 1993 and showed it belonged with a gutsy, 3-2 victory over Oak Harbor in consolation play, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8.
Coach Rachael Howington described it as sheer determination.
“This group has worked so hard to get to this point, they’re really not letting up,” she said. “They’re going to battle until the end.”
The Thunder play Roosevelt of Seattle in another elimination match Saturday at 11 a.m. The winner then plays for seventh-place.
