The KINGCO playoffs began on Thursday night as the #2 seed, Redmond, took on the #3 seed, Bellevue, at BHS . Redmond took the number two seed based on their 3-0 win at Bellevue on Monday.

 

From point one, you knew this was a playoff game as the intensity was high from the first serve. Tied 1-1, we had the longest rally of the night featuring a lot of saves and a lot of spikes. Redmond’s superstar Elise Petit finally put it away to go up 2-1. Callie Weber got a back row kill to tie it at 3-3. BHS was down 4-7 before a Weber kill started a run of Weber kills that ended up taking the Wolverines up 9-8. An Ally Witham kill was followed up by an Alexis Khuu ace to put Bellevue up 11-8. Holly Huard got back to back kills to put BHS in the lead at 14-12. A Jenna Kennan kill tied it at 16’s. Huard followed with an ace to go up 17-16. A Weber kill followed by a Kennan ace put Bellevue up with the slimmest of leads at 19-18. Tied at 19’s, RHS served into the net. Redmond followed with a Petit hit into the net to go up 21-19. Redmond followed with a kill but Witham got the block to put BHS up 22-20 which prompted a Redmond time out. Naomi Chen-Mallouk put away an over pass off a Weber serve to put BHS up 23-20. But, Petit smashed it home, followed by a Bellevue net error followed, by another Petit kill and it was knotted up at 23-23. Both teams knew game one was critical to the outcome as the pressure mounted. Petit took a couple nice swings that Bellevue dug up and then blocked and Redmond eventually put it into the net to put the Wolverines up 24-23 with Sophia Knapp serving for the game point. But, Petit took over with back to back kills and after a questionable double hit call, Redmond took game one, 24-26.

 

Bellevue fell behind early in game two. Down 3-7, Kennan got a kill from the middle. But, Bellevue stayed behind until a Chen-Mallouk block made it 8-11. Huard got a sweet cross-court kill followed by a traditional down the seam smash to tie the game at 12. Weber took a back row kill to make it 13-12. She backed that up with a service ace to make it 14-12. Redmond clawed back to take the lead before a Witham kill tied it at 16. Bellevue stepped up their game keeping points alive and forcing Redmond into errors. A Witham kill made it 22-19 to prompt a Mustang time out. Behind Petit kills and tips, RHS came back to make it 23-22. Needing this game, Khuu set Huard who put it away to make it 24-22 and brought on the Holly double fist pump. Knapp was again on the serve with the game on the line and she went short which caused an over pass that Huard put away and Bellevue had game 2, 25-22.

 

With all the momentum, Bellevue looked to come out strong in game 3 and they did. Weber ripped a kill that will be leaving a bruise on one of the Mustangs, putting Bellevue up 2-0. But, Redmond was solid in their come back. A Kennan ace tied it at  6. Huard got a couple more kills and BHS took a slim 9-8 lead. Tied at 13-13, Redmond had a rotation error and after a lengthy discussion, the refs awarded a point to Bellevue and the serve. Bellevue rode this momentum to a 18-14 lead. After an amazing Emily Burns dig, Weber got the kill to put BHS up 20-17. Weber gets another to go up 21-18. Khuu aces to go up 22-18. Witham tips away to go up 23-18. After a RHS error, Weber put the game winner away off the block to take game 3, 25-18.

 

Redmond needed game 4 to keep the match alive but BHS was wanting to put it away and they did their best going up 7-1 after a Weber ace. Knapp aced away to take a commanding 10-2 lead. After a great dig by Khuu, a Knapp bump set to Weber in the back row, and she smashed it away to go up 11-3.  Redmond ground back getting to 12-9. After another great Burns dig, Witham put away a tip that found the deck putting BHS up 15-10. A Knapp to Khuu to Huard kill stretched the lead to 18-13. Smelling the win and a shot at the birth to district, Huard hits a cross-court winner to go up 19-14. Witham hits it off the block for a winner to go up 21-16. A Petit kill shrunk the lead to 21-18, but after a serve into the net by Redmond, Khuu got another ace to go up 23-18. Redmond got the next point but Weber passed to Khuu who set up Witham for the kill and the score was 24-19. With Weber serving, Redmond brought it back to Weber who set up Khuu for a Witham shot to the far corner and that was game, 25-19.

 

After getting swept 3-0 and losing game one tonight, Bellevue dug deep to pull this match out. They will play for the KINGCO league championship and the banner in the rafters on Saturday night against the MI/LW winner. Credit is due to the back row defense of Knapp, Burns, Witham, Weber, and Huard who dug up Redmond and had great serve receive. Khuu was again the catalyst for the offense setting up Weber, Huard, Witham, Chen-Mallouk, and Kennan. The bench was awesome with their energy keeping the girls going in a tough match. We really need you to come out on Saturday to cheer the girls on. We hope to see you there - Saturday 10/28, 7:30pm @ Bellevue High School.

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Varsity Stats Leaders, Redmond

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Aces:       Khuu 3, Weber 2, Keenan 2

Kills:        Weber 17, Huard 11, Witham 9

Digs:        Knapp 24*, Weber 19, Khuu 9, Witham 7,

Blocks:    Chen-Mallouk 3, Huard 2

Assists:    Khuu 36

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*  Season High

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 Season Stats

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Regardless of the outcome on Saturday night, Bellevue is guaranteed to move on to the District Tournament and play for a trip to the State Championship. Come out to cheer your Wolverines on at Lakeside HS in Seattle, Thursday Nov. 3rd, Game time TBD.

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KINGCO TOURNAMENT BRACKET

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DISTRICT 2 TOURNAMENT BRACKET

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ALL-KINGCO AWARDS

1st Team         

Alexis Khuu (Setter) Junior

Callie Weber (OH) Junior

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Honorable Mention

Ally Witham (OPP) Senior

Holly Huard (OH) Junior

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ALL-SCHOLAR SENIOR AWARDS

3.75 or higher GPA

Ally Witham

Emily Kowalski

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