"Even though we were eliminated in the District Tournament, today was the best volleyball we have played all year," South Bend HS Head Volleyball Coach Jacki Sanchez told the Herald. "We have been getting better each week this year. We have been playing well the last two weeks; and we really, really played well today. We passed and served extremely well in this tournament, which allowed us to run a great offense. We seemed to run out of gas at the end of both matches today. It is very difficult to play two matches in a row, with little or no break. Making it even more difficult was that we lost libero Paige Johnson this week to an injury. I was so very pleased with each of the seven kids that played today. If success was measured by effort and attitude, these girls were certainly champs today.
"We passed and served very well in this match, which allowed us to run a very aggressive offense," Coach Sanchez said. "Emily Sanchez had a great all-around game with 19 kills, 27 digs, and 18 of 19 serves. Doing a fantastic job of sharing setting duties was Sanchez, Alison Funkhouser, Rielly Myers, and Morgan Patterson. Funkhouser had 20 digs, and Patterson finished with 18 digs. Offensively, Myers (11 blocks) and McKenzie Salas each contributed 9 kills, and Paola Razo adding 3, and Alison Funkhouser with 2 kills. Serving 100 percent was Patterson on 23 for 23, Razo 13 for 13, and Myers 12 for12."
NW Christian 3, SBHS 1
Northwest Christian of Lacey beat South Bend in an elimination match 17-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-12 Saturday.
"We played this match after the very competitive five-game loss against Napavine with little or no rest between," Coach Sanchez said. " We played pretty well the first few games, but definitely ran out of steam in game 4. Offensively, we were led by Emily Sanchez' 17 kills, McKenzie Salas' 6 kills, and Rielly Myers and Paola Razo each with 5 kills, and Alison Funkhouser had 3 kills.
"In an attempt to be in a good position defensively on the right side against Northwest Christian's Megan VanMarter, Sanchez and Funkhouser assumed most of the setting duties and both did a very good job both setting and on defense," Coach Sanchez said. "Morgan Patterson also did an outstanding job on defense against VanMarter. Nikki Manlow came in a gave us a needed punch on the service line going 8 for 8.
"This team has been a pleasure to coach all season long," Coach Sanchez said. "They have worked incredibly hard to improve each week, and they genuinely love playing with each other. I would like to thank our seniors for their contributions to South Bend Volleyball: Angel Collins (scorekeeper), Kelsea Fitch, Brenda Leon (scorekeeper), Nikki Manlow, Rielly Myers, Morgan Patterson, Emily Sanchez, and Angie Vazquez."