KingCo Playoff Thriller

Liberty's upset of Juanita on Thursday night helped the Kangs as we matched up against Liberty on Saturday to determine the final seedings for the District Championships to be held next week. We beat Liberty in both matches this year, yet every game was hard fought and they match up more closely than their records would indicate. True to form, we came out and took game 1, but fell in game 2. A nice bounce back in game 3 as Liberty's serves began to go awry, yet there they were in game 4 taking our non-dominant offensive attack and turning it into points of their own. And all of a sudden, a game 5! Did not want to be in a game 5 and I think the girls felt the pressure going down 12-8 as all the air was leaking out of the balloon. But alas, some awesome serves from our Senior Libero took us on a 7 point run and the match was ours. A really really big show of heart and determination. I have questioned that at times this year, but was proved wrong today and the whole team should be proud. So we move into Districts as a 3 seed and a first round match against Chief Sealth, the Metro 6 seed. They actually had an 11-2 record in Metro this year but must have struggled in the playoffs this year to drop to a 6 seed. If anyone has a scouting report, pass it along!


SET:

KILL:

2011 Lake Washington Kangs:

Volleyball Redemption and Validation

I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I
Can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire.

Thanks, Talking Heads!

That was me yesterday. For the Kangs of 2011, a win over Bellevue in the loser out first round of the Kingco Conference playoffs makes the season a complete success, a loss means an end to a season of up and down play and unmet expectations....and the game against Bellevue where we were the 4 seed and they were the 5 seed, started out poor with a win by Bellevue that really required digging deep by the girls to reclaim what they deserved and earned. So dig deep they did, taking the next 3 games and advancing to play Mt. Si (the number 1 seed) and earning a place in the District Championships, a place this team has not been in for many a year. (Last year, we got bounced by Liberty in this same loser out game).

My congrats to Bellevue, who made great strides from last year and played with much heart. Maddie has played Club Volleyball with 3 of the girls on that team and they are all wonderful young ladies. So Jesse, Alex, and Meghan...we got you this year but you will all be back and even stronger next year.

In the other game, our friend Jessica and the Liberty team took on Juanita and upset them in 5 games to also earn a spot in the Districts. Hooray! We will play Liberty on Saturday at 3 PM to determine the 3rd or 4th seed from Kingco as we play the Metro Division next week. Liberty lost to Mercer Island in the 2 seed vs. 6 seed match and we lost to Mt. Si...and lost pretty good. I think the girls were a little 'off' knowing that not too much was on the line, but Mt. Si has such strong talent (including the League MVP OH and 2 other First Team players, that we just cannot really compete. They get to everything, their hitters elevate and smash the ball and they can block with the best of them. So #1 Mt. Si plays #2 Mercer Island and we play #6 Liberty to determine final seedings before heading to Districts. It would be great to beat Liberty and take the 3 seed.

Anyway....very proud of the girls for getting the job done vs. Bellevue. Good job to our parents who consistently show up even to away games (have I mentioned that we have the greatest parents of all the teams?!!). And also, good job on winning the Team Sportsmanship Award for 2011. It's very cool to be winners AND good sports!

2011 Kangs: Playoff Bound

I guess the route you take is unimportant as long as you make it to where you want to go. The seedings for the 3A tournament were decided Monday (as pointed out by the guest comment from the last post) so we played our final regular season match against a Juanita team that did not have their all-state setter (although I bet she would have played with a playoff spot on the line). Juanita was a team that really struggled this year. They have a great setter and a great OH but no depth whatsoever and we easily swept them last night to lock up the 4th seed, albeit with a losing record overall. The Kangs improved their win total to 6 games this year, one better than last year, and we head to the playoffs on Thursday for a game against Bellevue, who really made strides this year. It's a game we should win, but Bellevue has confidence after beating us a week ago. A win in that first match would extend the season by a week as we would actually make the district playoffs, which would indeed mean it was a successful 2011 campaign. Lose, and we go home. Here's to the Kangs having a successful Thursday and beyond, and good luck to all the girls playing in the post season!

The Week That Was Redux

The week that was....frustrating. The gals suffered a crushing defeat at home against Bellevue on Monday that completely muddied the 3A playoff picture. After completely dominating the first game, it's as if they though to themselves "hmm...Bellevue...no need to keep the pressure on" and they began shanking serve receives, pushing balls over the net, dealing with out of rotation penalties and untimely coaching mistakes, and generally forgetting that you have to put away inferior teams. I told Maddie after the game that while the loss was brutal, what was important was how they came out and played AFTER the loss, and they came out and dismantled a very overmatched Sammamish team on WED. Maddie had about 30 successful serves and 15 in a row at one point; it was a match they should have dominated, and they did. One more game against Juanita on Monday and then we wait and see if we're invited to the playoffs. Sad to know the season is winding down.

The Week That Was

The week that was....well....mixed. Monday started off nice with a visit to Snoqualamie Brewing with a Kang dad and some family friends. There is no excuse whatsoever to not visit SB while at an away game at Mt. Si! The Kangs took advantage of a lethargic start by Mt. Si to win game 1 and thoughts of an upset actually crept into my head but game 2 was business as usual. We were down by 12 in game 3 and staged a valiant comeback to make it close, but ended up losing that and game 4 for a final of 3-1 Mt. Si. Their height and our poor D did us in. Wednesday night saw us out in East Renton as we faced a frustrated Liberty team. One of Maddie's club teammates is on the team and her dad explained that they went into the season with high hopes but have never gotten it together. We beat them at home 3-0 but the games were all close and indeed we lost the first game but went on to play well enough to win the next 3 and solidify our place i the playoff hunt. Great news for the Kangs as we got our best OH back who has been sidelined the whole season with a sprained ankle. Rusty vs. Mt. Si but much more consistent and confident in game 2. Good to have you back, DH! Maddie is playing well and we move into the home stretch with 3 straight home games to wrap up the regular season. Enjoy your weekend!

Hitting Bottom

Up 2-0 vs. Interlake last night and ended up losing in 5 after going to 14-14 in the final game before one of our Senior captains served it into the net. I felt actually sick to my stomach last night, but I'm glad I didn't try and update the blog at that time. The bitterness was exposed. Maybe I take it more seriously than the girls and coaching staff does; if so, I need to let go a bit. I'm just sick of being in a losing program and no one seems to want to do anything to change it. I don't think it's wrong to put your best players out there full time. I better wrap this up now because it's all coming back. As ashamed as our coaches and girls should be for that effort, the girls and staff at Interlake should be proud because their girls never gave up and never gave in and learned what it's like to feel pride in an accomplishment. Sigh....

Hanging Tough in Mercer Island

The team came out flat tonight vs. MI, and before Maddie even cycled in, the Kangs were already down 15-3, but Maddie reeled off 7 straight to get the kindling lit. (Please note the first ever CAMPFIRE metaphor while discussing HS volleyball in this blog). Game 2 was closer, but our severely lacking defense seemed unable to return any serves, and when they did, the setters were out of position or the hitters were pushing it over, and against a fundamentally solid team like MI, the resulting kills went mainly unchallenged. Much like our previous match at Juanita, the girls rallied and took a game, but poor defense again dashed any hope of winning the match. Still, it was not a debacle against the 6th ranked 3A team.

A special shout out to Carly W. from MI who is not only a fine setter, but a classy young lady as well. You have the respect of me and Maddie and we're pulling for you to go deep in the playoffs (unless it's against the Kangs)! I might even support a 6-2 offense if you and Maddie were on the same team! :)

Important home match against Interlake this week...we really need a win against someone other than Bellevue, Liberty or Sammamish to get a better seed in the playoffs.