MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Last year, the Snohomish Panthers won the 4A District 1 championship behind one of the state’s best players, The Herald’s All-Area Player of the Year Lanesha Reagan.
Her remaining teammates are proving that, collectively, they might be just as good.
The Panthers dropped the first set, but responded by winning the next three to claim back-to-back district championships with a 3-1 win over Kamiak on Thursday.
“Each one feels great,” Snohomish head coach Alex Tarin said. “Last year was our first year going there in a while. To go back-to-back feels even sweeter. With this team, I think a lot of people didn’t think we could do it because we lost too much last year, but our girls reloaded and they did great.”
The Panthers started the season slowly. In their first three victories of the year they needed all five sets and they even stumbled to a 3-1 loss to Monroe. Since then, the Panthers have lost just eight sets and have won 12 consecutive matches.
“(After) us being pushed to five (sets) several times this year, even when we are down in the score we know we can always win,” Tarin said. “I always tell the girls, ‘Let’s just win this ball and see what happens from there.’”
The turning point of Thursday’s match came in the second set. With the two teams tied at 13, junior outside hitter Kyla Mellick delivered three consecutive aces that started a string of seven straight points for Snohomish. The Panthers went on to win the set 25-20.
“We are a great serving team, but it can also be our Achilles’ heel,” Tarin said. “Tonight, our focus was to not get aces as much, but just to serve smart and serve strong. I told the girls, ‘If you do that, it will result in aces.’ That’s what they did tonight.”
Mellick led the Panthers, finishing with 13 kills, 10 digs and eight aces.
“We played as a team and definitely making our serves in that second game was a really strong point,” Mellick said.
Kamiak head coach Natalie Bowie wasn’t surprised by the Panthers’ serving success. It was something she knew Snohomish did well after playing them two times already this season.
“They are just a really good-serving team,” Bowie said. “It’s one of their biggest strengths as a team, for sure.”
The final two sets remained extremely competitive, but followed a similar pattern with Snohomish pulling away late each time.
“We definitely earned this one,” Mellick said. “It was a hard push for everything and it feels great to be there again.”
Unlike in years past when it had three state berths, District No. 1 sends just two teams to state this season. The Panthers have clinched the top seed, but Kamiak hasn’t yet qualified despite making the championship. The Knights will play Monroe, which came out of the consolation side of the bracket on Saturday for the final berth from the district.
“It takes the wind out of your sails a little bit, but you just start over,” Bowie said. “We’ll see, I’ll go in there and hope that they have their rally hats on and are ready to go.”
Meanwhile, the Panthers can start to get prepared for the competition they will face at state.
“I’m excited for the chance to be able to play the best (teams) in the state,” Tarin said. “We’ll do some scouting and we’ll do some research on the teams that we know will be there and we’ll see. But we want to compete. We’re excited. We think we can compete with anybody in this state.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Kamiak25202120—1
Snohomish23252525—3
Highlights: Kamiak–Tiffany Nielson 12 kills; Meghan Hayes three aces, 27 digs; Bailey Cornett seven kills, two blocks; Kat Anderson eight kills, 16 assists. Snohomish–Jessica Brennis six kills, three aces, five digs; Mackenzie Harris eight kills, three blocks, two digs; Kendle Valade-Nunez 30 assists, three aces, one block, three digs; Kyla Mellick 13 kills, 10 digs, eight aces. Records–Kamiak 12-4, Snohomish 15-1.
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