High School Sports

Here are the next-to-last state volleyball rankings for Class 4A, 3A and 2A. I’ll give you a brief synopsis, by classification. 4A — No teams out from last week, but there is some major reshuffling after West Valley of Yakima (formerly No. 3) lost to Eisenhower to close out regular-season play. They will meet again in the…

We all know injuries are an unfortunate part of athletics. They can derail any team’s postseason possibilities. The second-ranked Kennedy Catholic volleyball team will continue their quest for the 3A state championship without junior OH Shayne McPherson, considered their best all-around player. McPherson, who already has committed to Washington, suffered a season-ending ankle injury (torn ligaments) three weeks…

I updated here earlier about the three significant tournaments played Saturday. As usual, I had some struggles determining how much weight to put on certain matches — especially since they’re 2-out-of-3 at best. I rarely “punish” a team in a lower classification for losing to a good team in a higher classification. As it turns out, I…

I sent a couple of tweets out Sunday noting Auburn Riverside’s big win in the Linda Sheridan Volleyball Classic on Saturday. That was very impressive for the team I’ve had ranked No. 1 in the state in 3A all season. We had a freelance reporter there and you can read the story here, if you…

Sometimes, volleyball tournaments help you get a better handle on state rankings. Other times, not — and that’s because of the pool-play formats (two sets only) and best-of-three in bracket play as well as the fact that most tourneys include teams from a variety of classifications. In putting together this week’s rankings for 4A, 3A and 2A,…

It’s time for another edition of Triple Play, my weekly blog notebook dedicated to softball, and there’s a new twist this time around. The first segment is on a fun situation involving a mother-daughter duo – who squared off against each other on Monday. Jennifer England is the coach at Kent-Meridian and her daughter, Taylor Lott,…

I am finally back with some updated state high-school volleyball rankings for Class 4A, 3A and 2A. Thanks for your patience.

And, yes, I am calling these the Week 3 rankings even though I was unable to update them in week 2. It’s the third week of the regular season, so I think that makes the most sense.

I have been out of the volleyball loop recently and admit I don’t have a real good grasp on how to size up teams just yet. Tournaments are often not the best gauge this early, because some coaches juggle their lineups just to get kids some playing time, for one thing.

I do still pretty comfortable with the No. 1 teams in all three classifications — Bellarmine Prep (4A), Southridge (3A) and West Valley of Yakima (2A). All remain intact.

You’ll find the biggest change for any of the three comes in 3A, where Mount Si — which I had at No. 2 to start the season — falls completely out of the top-10, for now at least. The Wildcats are going through some growing pains, and some physical pains as well. They lost to surprising Interlake recently and were up and down at the Kent Classic — where Bellarmine Prep beat Central Catholic of Oregon in the title match, 25-21, 25-16. Both are nationally ranked.

Mercer Island climbs a notch to No. 2.

In this week’s Triple Play, you’ll find out how coach Jeff Skelly started his trek toward 400 fastpitch victories at Inglemoor (he needs just one more). And I’ve checked in with a pair of unbeaten teams — Tahoma, which is doing things a little differently this season, and Kennedy Catholic, which is relying heavily on…