KENNEWICK — Port Angeles and Sequim are hoping to make some noise at the Class 2A state volleyball tournament that starts today.
The Wolves and Roughriders have one or two matches today and will conclude tourney play Saturday at the Toyota Center.
All first-round and championship quarterfinal matches are scheduled for today with all remaining matches set for Saturday, including all consolation action.
Which means no team can be eliminated the first day of the double-elimination tournament.
All first-round matches are early today with Sequim taking on Anacortes at 8 a.m. and Port Angeles playing Black Hills at 9:30 a.m.
Both the Wolves and Riders will be playing teams that placed at state last year.
The Riders take on Black Hills, which captured third place at state, beating Fife in five games.
Even though this is the first time since 1989 that Port Angeles has played at state, coach Christine Halberg feels good about the Riders’ chances.
“Black Hills has the state experience but everybody is tough at state,” Halberg said.
“You never know what will happen. They lost six seniors from last year’s team. They are a different team.”
The Riders need to focus on how they play, Halberg said.
“If we stay focused, are disciplined and play aggressive, we should be OK.”
Halberg noted that Port Angeles played well twice against West Central District champion Fife, which is ranked No. 2 in state and took sixth in state last year when it lost in five games to Black Hills in the third-place final.
“We played aggressive and we were right there with them,” Halberg said about the Fife matches.
The Riders are excited about playing in state
Sequim’s opponent Anacortes, meanwhile, claimed fifth place in state last year, defeating Colville 3-1 (25-20, 27-25, 26-28, 25-18).
The winner between Port Angeles and Black Hills will play the West Valley (Spokane)-White River winner in the championship quarterfinals at 6 p.m. today while the losers will meet in the consolation quarterfinals Saturday.
West Valley took seventh place last year.
The Sequim and Anacortes winner, meanwhile, will play the Grandview-Tumwater winner in the championship quarterfinals at 4:30 p.m. today while the losers will play in the consolation quarterfinals Saturday morning.
Grandview went 0-2 at state last year.