The Quilcene Rangers volleyball squad after winning the 1B Tri-District tournament last week. From left, rear, are Bridget Hitt, Katie Love, Emily Hitt, Abby Weller, McKenzie Kieffer, Natalie Coffey, Gina Brown and Aleina Mitchell. From left, front, are Shelby Love, Pearl Munn, Sydney Brown and Marissa Kieffer. On the floor is Allanah Carron.

The Quilcene Rangers volleyball squad after winning the 1B Tri-District tournament last week. From left, rear, are Bridget Hitt, Katie Love, Emily Hitt, Abby Weller, McKenzie Kieffer, Natalie Coffey, Gina Brown and Aleina Mitchell. From left, front, are Shelby Love, Pearl Munn, Sydney Brown and Marissa Kieffer. On the floor is Allanah Carron.

PREP SPORTS ROUNDUP: Port Angeles girls soccer punches ticket to state

Editors Note: Port Angeles defeated Lindbergh 3-1 Saturday evening at Franklin Pierce High School to advance to the Class 2A state soccer tournament for the second straight season. Full details will appear in Monday’s Peninsula Daily News.

By Pierre LaBossiere

Peninsula Daily News

TACOMA — The Port Angeles soccer girls won their second game at the Class 2AWest Central District III tournament, beating Olympic League rival North Mason 2-0 Thursday, setting up a match for a chance to go to state for a second straight year.

Their final West Central District match was against Lindbergh after press deadline Saturday. The winner of that match goes to the state 2A tournament.

Though the Roughriders and Bulldogs split during the regular season, both games saw Port Angeles control possession of the ball and take more shots. That trend continued Thursday with the Riders outshooting North Mason 12-4. None of those shots were on goal due to Port Angeles’ tight defense.

“They have a really skillful forward that we wanted to shut down. I assigned Kennedy Mason to man-mark her which she, with the support of our back four, did brilliantly,” said coach Scott Moseley. Port Angeles goalie Bonnie Sires notched her 6th shutout of the year.

The Riders controlled the ball the first 34 minutes but could not find the goal until Emilia Long gained possession of a loose ball and fired in a shot from 20 yards out.

“When I scored the goal, the ball had dropped to me and I honestly thought one thing, ‘shoot.’ I was a little surprised it went in,” said Long.

The second half was a chess match as North Mason made adjustments to free their goal scorer and the Riders countered with defensive switches, according to Moseley. Port Angeles had numerous scoring opportunities, including three Kyrsten McGuffey chances from close range that the Bulldog keeper was able to fend off.

“[McGuffey] had one of her best games of the season; hard work on defense plus quality passes and shots in front of heir goal,” said Moseley.

The final goal was scored with about 30 seconds remaining. After winning the ball near midfield, McGuffey played a pass to Long who took a couple of touches inside and hit a far post shot from 25 yards that flew past the Bulldog goalie to clinch the win.

“I was very happy that we beat North Mason. I was excited for all of us for the win,” said Long, who now has 15 goals on the season.

Volleyball Quilcene wins Tri-district

MOUNT VERNON — Quilcene won the Tri-District 1B Tournament, getting a bit of vengeance against a Rainier Christian team that gave the Rangers their only loss of the season in the Sea-Tac 1B championship.

Also playing in the Tri-District tournament, Clallam Bay and Neah Bay were unable to qualify for state, with both teams going 1-2.

Rainier Christian made the Rangers work for it in the title match Wednesday, taking Quilcene to five sets (25-18, 25-19, 19-25, 22-25, 15-11) in a 194-point marathon.

“[Quilcene] played much stronger against Rainier Christian than the [Sea-Tac 1B championship]. Excellent serving kept us very competitive and the ladies blocked strongly at the net the entire day. The Rangers showed perseverance and the willingness to work together to close out the games,” said coach Joni Crowell.

Emily Hitt and Katie Love led the Rangers. Hitt had 15 kills, 13 digs, eight blocks and four aces and 19 for 20 serving. Love had 17 kills, 19 digs and served 16 for 16.

McKenzie Kieffer and Gina Brown each had nine blocks. Sydney Brown served 23 for 23. Abbygael Weller had seven kills and 16 digs, while Allanah Carron had 32 assists.

In order to get the championship match, Quilcene had to come from behind, going to five sets (24-26, 18-25, 25-18, 25-12, 15-9) to beat Puget Sound Adventist in the semifinal match earlier in the day.

Hitt had 10 kills, eight blocks and eight aces, serving 27 for 28. Love had 18 kills and 12 digs, serving 17 for 17. Sydney Brown served 17 for 17 with 15 digs.

Kieffer had 11 blocks and Carron 35 assists and 12 digs.

“With some new players on the court it took a few games for the Lady Rangers to hit their stride,” said Crowell. “Strong serving and offense kept the Lady Rangers in play and brought them into the championship round.”

Earlier in the tournament, Quilcene beat Neah Bay 3-0 (25-11, 25-23, 25-12).

Neah Bay won one match at the tournament, beating Lopez 3-2. The Red Devils lost to Mount Rainier Christian 3-2 and to Providence Classical Christian 3-1. Clallam Bay lost to Mount Rainier Christian 3-0 and to Providence Classical Christian 3-1.

The state 1B Tournament begins Thursday at the Sun Dome in Yakima. Quilcene, which finished fourth at state last year, will be a No. 1 seed out of the Tri-District.

Sequim eliminated

TACOMA — The Wolves were eliminated Saturday from the postseason in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-15) loss to Washington in the West Central District III 2A Tournament.

Sequim (10-7) made it to Saturday’s round of matches by coming from behind to dominate Steilacoom 3-1 (19-25, 25-5, 25-9, 25-20) Friday in their opening round match at the West Central District III 2A tournament.

Sequim outscored Steilacoom 50-14 in the second and third sets after getting off to a slow start. In their afternoon match, Friday, Sequim lost to White River 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-15). White River is 16-0 and one of the top-ranked volleyball squads in the state.

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