By Gerardo Bolong

AUBURN - Tired, although determined, the John F. Kennedy Catholic Lancers endured a full day of loser-out matches to earn a Class 3A West Central III/ Southwest Washington IV Bi-District berth to the 2013 state championship tournament with a trio of wins on Sat., Nov. 9th at Auburn Mountainview High School.. The Seamount champion Lancers Lancers (14-0, 18-2) open up their tourney matches with a 1:30 p.m. game against Mercer Island on Fri., Nov. 15th on court three at Saint Martin's University in Lacey.

"It feels like the monkey's off our back (of getting out of district play)," said head coach Joanne Uhl. "I'm so happy for the girls to experience this. We always have great hopes and wishes for the seniors. They're all nice kids and give it everything they have. we had to work through some injuries and piece it together."

Mountain View (Vancouver) stood as the final obstacle to the Kennedy Catholic (Burien) excursion to state in a 3:30 p.m. fifth-to-state, loser-out game.

With the electricity flowing strongly early against the Thunder in a first set 13-5 lead, the Lancers grounded out eight of the next ten points behind deadly blocking and killing to assume a 21-7 command as they cleaned up the set 25-11.

"We wanted this so much and worked so hard," said a truly happy Beach.

Mountain View reversed the flow to lead 10-2 in the second set. JFK then went muzzle to muzzle with its foe and gradually fired up to close within 16-13. The Thunder was ready to erupt after getting to set at 24-20. A Mountain View kill that sailed long started a Lancer sprint to the finish with hard hitting outside hitter Shayne McPherson driving the home the final point ended a six point run for a 26-24 KC win.

"Keeping the ball in and letting the team do the work is what we did," said Shayne McPherson who had a monster game with 20 kills.

Set No. 3 opened with the teams exchanging long and short scoring runs to keep pace with each other. Lancer power emerged for a 4-0 scoring following the eighth tie at 13-all. Kennedy muffled the Thunder to gain a 17-13 advantage only to have the Thunder roar back for an 18-17 Mountain View lead. Five additional tie scores manifested themselves before Stephanie George worked well in the middle blocker area to give Kennedy Catholic a brief 23-22 margin. Mountain View regrouped, however, and poured in the final three points of a 25-23 Thunder set win.

"It was hard work," said Alex Rodalo. "I need to keep my emotions under control and to take a breath for relaxation. I'm excited."

The battle was fierce to start the fourth set as the Thunder turned a 12-5 disadvantage into a closer 12-9 deficit. Following a Lancer time out, Kennedy turned a fierce battle into a crushingly one-sided control. Front line blocks and cross court kills set the stage for a 13-3 Lancer run to victory with Jasmine Moore's shot to the left corner being the final blow in a 25-12 blowout triumph for the Lancers.

McPherson had a monster game with 20 kills while Moore drove home nine kills. Stephanie George added seven front line kills and Sydney Beach knocked down four for the front line. Amanda Shioyama parceled out 39 KC kills.
After dropping a five-set encounter to Southwest representative Prairie on Friday night, Kennedy was forced into a pair of loser-out matches beginning with a 10:00 a.m. Saturday meeting with Seamount foe Hazen.
For awhile, the Highlanders from Renton stayed fairly competitive, but the Lancer hitting power and defense wore their opponents out for a 25-17 first set win.

Once the Lancers got into high gear, they drove the Highlanders to the low road of defeat. The final two sets were 25-12 and 25-8. Shayne McPherson tallied 6 kills.

At high noon, Enumclaw provided much stiffer resistance. Pushing JFK to its knees in the opening set, the Hornets continually put stings on the Lancer defense for a 25-17 win.

Enumclaw stayed very competitive in the second set until the fighting Lancers repelled their opponents by the close score of 25-22.
Taking charge quickly in the third set, Kennedy Catholic whipsawed Enumclaw for a 25-16 margin.

The Hornets refused to die quickly and pushed the Lancers hard throughout the fourth set. It took all of Kennedy's resilience to hold off upset minded Enumclaw, but the Lancers finally emerged the set and match, 25-20.

"After how we competed here, if we play our best, we can compete well (at state)," concluded Uhl

Players for the state qualifying Kennedy Catholic Lancers are Shayne McPherson, Apryll Eneliko, Rachael George, Anna Tegelberg, Stephanie George, Ali Campagnaro, Sydney Fuller, Delaney Knox, Hannah Eoff, Alex Rodalo, Amanda Shioyama, Jasmine Moore, Sydney beach and Hayley Clement.

Head coach Uhl works with assistant coaches/managers Molly Ballanger, Ellie DeGagne, Hale Eneliko, Marlayna Geary and Aaron Larson. Bob Bourgette is the athletic director.