Emerald Ridge 3, Curtis 0 (25-22, 25-20, 26-24)
Three of last year's semifinalists in the 4A state volleyball tournament were back in the final four this year. Two of those teams, Emerald Ridge and Curtis, squared off for a date with the Bellarmine Prep (last year's state champ).
Emerald Ridge finished off Curtis to advance to the championship by scoring six straight points in the deciding set. Down 24-20, the Jaguars mounted a miraculous comeback to get them to the title game for the first time in school history.
Prior to the run to end the match, Emerald Ridge head coach Bobby McGivern called timeout, his team's back against the wall and looking like it was about to surrender the set.
"All I was talking about was 'okay ladies, it's the biggest comeback ever'," he said. "And when we called that timeout, we just talked about specific stuff that we needed to do and that was to be on that sideline for the extreme angle shot."
Allie Bauer recorded several of her 11 digs after the timeout to keep the Jaguars alive and get the momentum moving in their favor.
McGivern mentioned his senior class as one that has laid the foundation to get Emerald Ridge to this point. When they were sophomores, they went to state and didn't place and finished third last year.
"[The seniors] are finally getting to the point where they can realize their dream, which is to win a state championship. So it's been awesome," McGivern said.
Notable stats: Isabella Zubrod, Emerald Ridge, 33 assists; Jessica Davis, Emerald Ridge, nine kills; Jenna Mullen, Emerald Ridge, eight kills, 10 digs.
Bellarmine Prep 3, Battle Ground 2 (25-22, 19-25, 25-12, 20-25, 15-12)
Before the start of the fifth set in the semifinal between defending champion Bellarmine Prep and Battle Ground, Bellarmine's team huddled together. No coaches.
The girls took turns barking to the group to prepare them for the set that could have dictated their season.
"We were just trying to fire each other up and remind ourselves that this is our match," senior setter Natalie Jensen said.
The Lions won the set 15-12 to set up a championship match against Emerald Ridge.
Neither team won consecutive sets in the match, which Bellarmine head coach Jody Degroot said is just indicative of any competitive volleyball match.
"I think that's the nature of the sport," she said. "It's a lot of momentum shifting, so they had their moments where they were just on and we had ours where we were rolling. That's why you never give up."
Bellarmine had the task of containing Battle Ground outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle. In the fifth set, the Tigers seemed to go to Van Sickle nearly every time.
Battle Ground gave Bellarmine one of its biggest tests of the season, which could bode well with the championship just hours away.
As far as what needs to be cleaned up before the match with Emerald Ridge, Jensen said that "there were lulls" in the Battle Ground match, adding that staying consistent will be the key.
There is history this season between Emerald Ridge and Bellarmine Prep, which play in the same district. Emerald Ridge beat Bellarmine in the Kent Classic on Sept. 20 and Bellarmine beat Emerald Ridge in the district championship last Saturday.
In that championship match, Emerald Ridge won the first set before losing three in a row to the Lions. Needless to say, there's familiarity between the two.
"They've kind of been our biggest rival throughout the season," Jensen said.
The match is set to start at 8:15 p.m.
