It wasn’t as pretty as they would have liked, but the Todd Beamer Titans girls volleyball team advanced to the West Central District Tournament after finishing with the 10th seed from the South Puget Sound League Tournament, which took place on Oct. 29 and 31.
The Titans entered the tournament as the fifth seed out of the North division. They were slotted against Puyallup, the fourth seed from the South, in the first round.
The first set was evenly matched with both teams battling back and forth. Eventually, the set was tied at 24. Beamer scored the first point to break the tie and went up 25-24. The next three points went to the Vikings as they took the set 27-25.
The loss of the first set deflated the Titans, while Puyallup was ignited. They took the next two sets 25-12, 25-12. Beamer’s chances to qualify for the district tournament were put on hold.
Their next opponent was Kentlake who lost 3-1 to Mount Rainier in their opening match. Kentlake previously defeated Beamer 3-1 on Oct. 22.
The day of rest in between games seemed to help the Titans. They cruised against the Falcons 3-0, winning each set 25-15.
The win clinched their spot in districts, but they still had an opportunity for the ninth seed for the district tournament. Going into the tournament, the Titans’ goal was to win at least two games.
Graham-Kapowsin stood in the way of their goal in the third and final game of the tournament. The Eagles finished third in the South Puget Sound League South in the regular season. They were beaten by Kentridge in the first round of the tournament, but defeated Rogers in their second match.
The first set was back and forth as both teams struggled to break free of one another. Neither team managed to get more than two points ahead throughout the set.
Ultimately, Beamer came out on top in the first set, winning 25-21.
The second set was much of the same. With Beamer taking a 23-21 lead, Graham-Kapowsin head coach Loni Parks called a timeout. It proved to be the turning point in the match as the Eagles took the set 25-23 and never looked back.
Unlike in their game against Puyallup, the Titans continued to play hard even after a deflating blow. Despite their efforts, they fell in the next two sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-18.
They had difficulty stopping G-K’s Ayla Carpenter’s kill attempts. She finished with 26 kills in the match.
Even with the loss, Beamer head coach Pat Taitano expressed optimism for the team in the district playoffs.
“We talked about [the Puyallup loss],” Taitano said. “We worked on it at practice and made sure we were pretty focused on bouncing back. If a team beat us or played well and we lost, we were going to make sure we were going to fight. [The difference] was the focus coming into today. We were going to play well, win or lose.”
Beamer will take on one of the state’s best teams in Bellarmine Prep today at 1:45 p.m. at Kentwood High School. They are hoping to be one of six teams to advance to the state tournament.
The victor will play the winner of Kentridge and Kent-Meridian, while the loser will play the loser of that same matchup. Beamer’s second match will take place at 5:30 p.m. on the same day, regardless of the outcome of the first match.
“I’m looking to see us suprise them,” Taitano said. “If we’re playing as a team and we’re super focused and things go our way, we’re a team that everybody has to play well to beat. So hopefully that team shows up.”
