SPORTS: Port Angeles, Sequim volleyball teams advance to district championships

TACOMA — Both Port Angeles and Sequim volleyball teams advanced to the district championships this coming weekend.

The Roughriders already had a ticket punched for districts before subdistrict play and ended up with the No. 2 seed after splitting two matches.

The Wolves, meanwhile, absolutely pounded two foes, including a loser-out pigtail match, to grab the No. 9 seed to Class 2A bi-district competition.

Port Angeles opened subdistricts up by defeating White River 25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18 before falling 25-22, 25-15, 25-12 to the Vikings.

“We struggled against North Kitsap,” Port Angeles coach Christine Halberg said. “We had a hard time.”

Kiah Jones led at the net against White River with 17 kills while Danielle Rutherford and Darian Foley added six kills each.

Jones also contributed 21 digs while Lauren Norton added 14.

Foley led with eight blocks while Jones added four stops. Setter Emily Drake dished out 34 assists.

Sequim, meanwhile, breezed through subdistricts by destroying Renton 25-4, 25-15, 25-13 in the loser-out pigtail and beating Sumner 25-10, 25-16, 25-14 in the seeding match.

Setter Taylor Balkan had 45 assists in the two matches and made 27 of 29 serves with eight aces. She also had six kills.

Haleigh Harrison was 22 of 25 serving with seven aces and she had 15 digs in the matches while Hannah Hudson earned 20 digs and had four perfect passes and three aces.

Kyla Martin was strong at the net with nine kills, a team-high 23 digs and three aces.

Alexas Besand was perfect in serving with a 23 of 23 day with five aces. She also had 14 digs and 10 kills.Rylleigh Zbaraschuk served 13 of 13 with an ace while Emily Wallner was 10 of 10 serving with two aces.