Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cascade volleyball team dominates Chelan, heads to Districts as number one seed

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The undefeated Cascade volleyball team won their sixth straight league title with a straight sets win at Chelan on Oct. 24. This has been a big rivalry game over the years, but Cascade Head Coach Marni McMahon was a little disappointed in the crowd last week.

“I was ready. We practiced all week with a big crowd. Practiced with a lot of noise in the gym. They weren’t as enthusiastic as in the past, but the rivalry and pressure was still high. The girls handled it really well,” McMahon said. 

Of course, the dominating play of the Kodiaks could have something to do with that. 

“The first set was kind of close, 25-20. We did not have a good set. We ended up winning it. The second set we came out roaring. We were really aggressive serving wise. About the first eight points of that second set, they just died down. We beat them 25-8,” McMahon said. “They kind of lost interest and were a little frustrated.”

Cascade won the third set 25-21. Makena Ala’ilima-Daley had 17 kills, 8 digs and was 11-for-12 serving. Analia Vasquez had 15 kills, 9 digs and was 12-for-14 serving. Megan Evans had 20 assists, 4 kills and 3 blocks. Abby Brown had 20 assists. Savanna Akers was 12-for-13 serving with 4 kills. 

McMahon said the team played better than the first time they played the Goats. 

“It was a better than the first round, but still ups and downs. We’re still not as disciplined as I want them to be yet. One aspect of the game, the serving game which was really bad the first game, was fantastic this game,” McMahon said. “Our serving percentage as a team was really high, above 85 percent. We served really tough and really well, but our serve-recieve was not that great. We still have to make make a big focus, transferring some of the energy from serving into serve-receive.”

Cascade improved to 13-0 overall and 8-0 in league. The Kodiaks do not play again until the district championship game against Chelan on Thursday. 

“I need be really creative in the next week of practices, simulating as many live game-like situations as possible. Without having any live matches, we have to make sure our practice time is valuable,” McMahon said. 

If Cascade wins, they get an automatic berth to state as a number one seed. Then, it is just wait and see how the state tournament bracket plays out. 

“We won’t know until the following Sunday when the bracket comes out. It’s just a crap shoot. We don’t know what to expect. It depends on the district playoffs in the other leagues,” she said. 

Cascade hosts Chelan (6-2, 11-3) at 5 p.m. on Thursday in the Caribou Trail League District Championship. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.

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