3A volleyball: Blanchet rolls to state crown

EVERETT — Stephanie Augustavo couldn't stop the tears.

Like last year, her emotions spilled over in the Class 3A state volleyball tournament at the Everett Events center.

But these were tears of joy — because there was no stopping Augustavo and her Bishop Blanchet teammates last night as they captured the state championship with a convincing victory over White River, 25-21, 25-10, 25-20. The match took only a little more than an hour.

It was the second title for the top-ranked Braves (32-5), who also won in 1991, and a school-best finish for No. 4 White River (29-5), which upset second-ranked Bainbridge in the semifinals.

For Augustavo, this was redemption for last year's fifth-place finish after a disappointing first-round loss to Prosser. That caused tears of a different sort.

"My dad took a picture of my crying after the game and he said, 'You'll never feel that way again,' " Augustavo said.

And she hasn't.

"These will be tears of happiness," she said. "I'm just sad this was my last game."

But what a swan song it was. With chants of "MVP, MVP" from the boisterous Blanchet faithful, Augustavo delivered another outstanding performance, pounding 16 kills to give her 73 in four tournament matches.

"She felt like she had to redeem herself at the state tournament, and she did," Blanchet coach Joanne Gilligan said. "Whenever we needed somebody to step up, she did."

And she had plenty of help last night. Cousin Tori Ross collected 27 assists, three aces, two blocks and five digs. Fellow senior Merryl Pohl delivered eight kills and a block. Freshman Bridget Logan showed how bright the future is with four kills. Erika Corbin and Alicia Adiele had three kills each and Adiele added three blocks.

"When you have a team full of seniors who have worked so hard for this, they just wanted to come out and play their best on their last match," Gilligan said. "I think we played to our potential."

White River, third in last year's tournament, did not play its best. But much of that was due to Blanchet, coach Lenny Llanos said.

"They're just a great team," he said. "If we played them 10 more times, they'd probably beat us 10 more times."

It was the final time at the White River helm for Llanos, who is stepping down after three seasons with an 86-14 record.

White River came out hot, blazing to a 7-2 lead. Gilligan called time out to settle her players, but the Hornets didn't relent. They were up 11-5 before Blanchet found its rhythm.

And what a rhythm it was.

The Braves went on a 14-5 run that put them in control of the game and, as it turned out, the match. White River came back to close Blanchet's lead to 20-19. But Augustavo nailed another kill to start another run and the Braves quickly closed out the game. They dominated the rest of the way.

White River was disappointed with the outcome of the match, but not the tournament overall.

"I don't think we played our best," senior Sara Bendorf said, "but it was just amazing to play in the championship."

Semifinals

Bishop Blanchet 3, Camas 0

Cousins Stephanie Augustavo and Tori Ross worked their usual magic as the Braves made short work of surprising Camas, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23. Augustavo hammered 16 kills, and Ross handed out 23 assists. Merryl Pohl added seven kills and four blocks as the Metro League champs assured themselves a top-two finish.

White River 3, Bainbridge 1

Shealun Campisi cranked it up a notch to lift the Hornets into the championship game for the first time with the upset, 26-24, 13-25, 25-22, 26-24. Campisi, a 5-foot-11 junior, swatted 19 kills, and 6-foot senior Sara Bendorf added 13. "We've surpassed our expectations right now," Llanos said after the match. "A lot of people were expecting a Bainbridge-Blanchet final. I think we're putting our name on the map."

Sandy Ringer: 206-718-1512 or sringer@seattletimes.com