Week 1 Competition and Players to Watch!

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The High School season in Washington starts fully this week, and there are already tremendous matchups to look forward to across the state. The best battle this week may be the Puyallup vs. Curtis match in 4A, both Viking squads have high hopes for state hardware and feature big-time players like <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='230155' first='Danielle' last='Brown']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='245154' first='Hannah' last='Byers']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='220494' first='Reese' last='Sheppard']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='245162' first='Susannah' last='Barnett']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='192532' first='Rylie' last='Hangca']</strong>, and more. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This November the WIAA will put on two three-day championships in the Yakima SunDome, with some classifications overlapping. November 10-11 (1B, 2B), November 11-12 (1A), November 17-18 (3A), and November 18-19 (2A, 4A). There were start times at 7AM to make sure all the games were completed last season at State, hopefully that can be avoided for everyone involved this year. The season runs roughly 10 weeks, teams need to mesh quickly in the non-league and tournament portion of the schedule in early and mid September, then begin to rack up wins to lock up a playoff berth headed into late October and November. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Early season tournaments to keep an eye on include the SunDome Volleyball Festival this upcoming weekend, a 64-team affair split into two divisions. Last year both tournament winners also took home state Championships; Oakesdale in one division and Chelan in the other. Both of these teams have an excellent chance to repeat at state this year, the Nighthawks are led by senior<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='230149' first='Payton' last='Davis']</strong> and Chelan has a young gun with a huge game in sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249310' first='Brynn' last='Hughbanks']</strong>. Tournament favorites this weekend in Yakima include Wenatchee, Bothell, Lynden, Eastlake, Gig Harbor, and Kamiakin among others. A few players to watch at the SunDome include <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='251544' first='Sasha' last='Dandridge']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='231740' first='Jessica' last='Martin']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='251586' first='Grace' last='Rice']</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='250020' first='Peyton' last='Arland']</strong>. The Bellevue Volleyball Invitational is also the 9th and features host Bellevue, Ingraham, North Creek, Garfield, and Skyline along with Lakeside (SEA) and Lake Stevens. The Lions from Lakeside are the defending 3A champs and Lake Stevens is a top contender for the 4A title. The talent level at the tournament will be deep with players like <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181633' first='Victoria' last='Gao']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='231549' first='Laura' last='Eichert']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238278' first='Katelyn' last='Eichert']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249345' first='Simone' last='Grieser']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='217363' first='Alyss' last='Kelly']</strong>, and more all in action. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two Eastern Washington matchups of note tonight include Mt. Spokane at Gonzaga Prep and in 2A, Shadle Park takes on Colfax. Mt Spokane is a league title and state contender out of the 3A Greater Spokane League along with Mead and newcomer Ridgeline. Shadle Park and Colfax have both made waves at the State 2A Tournament over the last few seasons to continue to add to their long traditions of excellence. Players to watch include <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='230150' first='Abbey' last='Flerchinger']</strong>, Shadle Park, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='495743' first='Ava' last='Swan']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='251540' first='Lauren' last='York']</strong>, Colfax, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='246353' first='Jordyn' last='Williams']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='252593' first='Jillian' last='Davis']</strong>, Mt. Spokane, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='226454' first='Maddie' last='Finnegan']</strong> from Gonzaga Prep. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We love to see results and statistics updated, whether online on a team individual website, and in a perfect world every team in the state would have accurate and timely information posted to a site like MaxPreps. Parents encourage your coaches to upload as much data as they can, they just may need a volunteer (like you!) to help with the process. Did a team or player have a great performance? Drop a line at at jesseetter12@gmail.com, we are always interested in showcasing any player at any level who has an outstanding match, week, etc.!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->