For the third season in a row, the Northwest Christian volleyball team punched its ticket to the 1B State Tournament.
The Wolverines rebounded from their Class 1B District 2 quarterfinal loss to Providence Classical Christian with a four-set victory (25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19) over Lopez Island on Saturday, Nov. 7 in a winner-to-state elimination game. Northwest Christian finished sixth in districts after losing its final match to Grace Academy in five sets 27-29, 25-14, 9-25, 25-8, 11-15.
“Our mindset going into today was that nothing would be given to us. If we really wanted it, we would have to take it,” Northwest Christian co-head coach Sarah Barnard said. “After losing to Providence the way we did on Wednesday night, and not playing with our foot fully on the gas pedal, we knew today had to be different. We weren’t perfect, and we had struggles in some areas, but we just kept fighting. I think a lot of that had to do with the leadership between Addy Hentges, Ashlynn Hutchings and Rileigh Frost.”
Hentges had a pair of stellar performances on Saturday, starting with 14 kills and eight aces against Lopez Island and then 22 kills against Grace Academy. Hutchings posted double-doubles in both games, first 11 kills and 14 digs against the Lobos and then 12 kills and 16 digs vs. the Eagles. Collins tallied a combined 70 assists and six aces across the two games.
Northwest Christian (18-6) earned the No. 15 seed in the 1B state bracket and will face No. 18 Entiat in a loser-out game on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the Yakima Valley SunDome. The winner will face No. 2 seed Darrington later that afternoon.
