YAKIMA — It took them five grueling games, but the Toutle Lake Ducks walked away with a third-place trophy from the Class 2B state volleyball tournament at the Yakima SunDome on Saturday.

The Ducks defeated LaSalle 25-21, 25-20, 10-25, 15-25, 15-9 in the match for third and fifth place, rallying in the final game after watching their early two-game advantage evaporate.

“I am very proud of them. We had some players step up big time at the net,” Toutle coach Don Merzoian said. “The bench was positive and kept us focused.”

The third-place state trophy topped off another solid season by the Ducks, who last week won their sixth consecutive district championship.

Following its defeat of Reardan on Day 1 of the tournament, Toutle came back strong against a tough Kittitas squad on Saturday in the quarterfinals. After dropping the first game 25-22, the Ducks came back to win the next three straight 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 to send the Coyotes to the consolation bracket.

Ball control became a problem as the day wore on, and without a strong offensive front, Northwest Christian of Colbert proved too much for the tired Ducks in the semifinals as the Crusaders prevailed 25-16, 25-16, 25-20.

For the tournament, Hayley Gorton had two aces and 57 assists, and Caitlyn Perrin added 35 kills, three aces and two blocks. Christian Carlson stepped up with 21 kills and two blocks, Maddie Timm had 24 kills, 16 blocks and sportsmanship recognition from the WIAA.

Abby Gorton (46 assists, two aces), Payton Hoff (12 kills, five blocks and a sportsmanship award), Jamie Wall (five kills, three blocks) and libero Brandi Malakoff (three aces, excellent defense) also played well, while Kelsey Kent and Tiffany Wend came off the bench to play hard and keep Toutle in the hunt.

Swing players Shelby Wason and Erika Halverson rounded out the Toutle squad, with Halverson also receiving recognition for sportsmanship.

TRC falls short of trophy

YAKIMA — Last year, the Three Rivers Christian volleyball team made its first trip to the state tournament, but lost both of its matches. A year later, the Eagles returned to state and took the next step.

The Eagles won their first-ever state match by eliminating 12th-ranked Lummi 25-11, 26-24, 20-25, 25-21 in a loser-out match of the Class 1B state tourney at the Yakima SunDome on Saturday.

The Eagles needed to beat fifth-ranked Northport to advance to the trophy round, but came up short in a 25-22, 26-24, 27-25 loss that ended their season.

“The loss to Northport was a heartbreaker because we were the better team,” TRC coach Jaymie Cox said. “We led in every game, but we couldn’t close them out. We even had game-point in the last two games, but they (the Mustangs) kept coming back.”

Mariah Morrison led the Eagles with 11 kills. Nikki Barnwell added 10, served three aces and made six digs, and Myriah Dombrowsky chipped in 20 assists, five kills, four aces and six digs.

In the victory over Lummi, Dombrowsky had 11 kills, seven aces, 13 digs and 22 assists, and Morrison added 10 kills and six aces. Barnwell had nine kills and six digs, Catherine Maldonado had eight kills, six aces and four digs, and Keana Stout chipped in 27 digs and three aces.

“We kept our energy level up and did the things we wanted to against Lummi to get our first state tournament win in school history,” Cox said.

TRC finished its season 15-6.

FOOTBALL

Cougars maul Toledo, 49-14

SUMNER — Cascade Christian overwhelmed Toledo 49-14 at Sunset Chevy Stadium here Saturday in the first round of the Class 1A state football playoffs.

The second-ranked Cougars (11-0) will take on top-ranked Montesano (11-0) next weekend in the quarterfinals. Montesano beat Meridian 54-14 in Tumwater in a first-round game on Saturday.

Cascade Christian knocked Montesano out of the 2008 state playoffs.

Toledo (8-3) was making its first state appearance since 2002 on Saturday, and things went downhill quickly for the Indians. Toledo was intercepted by Brendon Ossman on its first possession of the game, and Ossman capped the ensuing drive with a four-yard touchdown run.

It was the first of five unanswered scores by Cascade Christian.

Indians senior D.J. Herbert had a strong all-around performance in his final prep game, scoring all 14 Toledo points. Herbert broke off a 59-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter, and also caught the two-point conversion pass from Trevor Jones to make it 35-8. With less than two minutes left in the game, Herbert exploded for a 53-yard TD run that made it 49-14

Herbert also had an interception for Toledo.

Tyler Walrath ran for three touchdowns to pace the Cougars. David Walters added a 43-yard TD run and Colten Faverty a short scoring run for CC, and Kyle Stennes threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Cody Creech.

David Wallace and Johnny Earls each had a sack for Toledo, and Caleb Thomas recovered a fumble.

SWIMMING

MM’s Miller finishes 8th

FEDERAL WAY — Mark Morris swimmer Janae Miller placed eighth in the finals of the 100-yard freestyle at the Class 2A Swimming Championships held at the King County Aquatic Center Saturday.

Miller, who went into the finals seeded seventh, finished the race in 58.31 seconds.

MM finished tied for 20th with one point.

Kelso participated in the state 4A meet, but no results were reported.

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