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Sports Notebook: CV volleyball contending once again
9/28/2015 2:29:04 PM

By Mike Vlahovich
Splash Contributor

With wild swings of momentum, volleyball might be the most unpredictable of sports.

Central Valley's veteran team is a case in point, proving that no lead is safe. The Bears, ahead two games to zero against visiting Gonzaga Prep, needed but one more win in the best-of-five non-league match to dispatch its foe.

But the Bears were a shadow of themselves as the Bullpups came back to win the final three.

Never fear, turnabout was fair play five days later. Host CV trailed Mead two games to none, including a 12-25 loss in the opener, but rallied to win the final three in its Greater Spokane League opener.

The Bears, Bullpups, Panthers and University again figure to be in a four-team scuffle. CV faces the other two Oct. 6 and 15.

On another front, the Bears reached the finals of the 32-team SunDome Festival in Yakima, a tournament that brings teams from all over.

The Bears won their pool, beating Ellensburg and Sunnyside and splitting with Glacier Peak, to gain second seed in the championship round where all of their taut games went to third and deciding sets, with two point outcomes.

They beat Eagle 25-18, 22-25, 15-13 in the first round, rallied against Eisenhower of Yakima 21-25, 25-18, 15-13 and lost in the title match, 23-25, 25-16, 14-16 to West Valley of Yakima.

Both Eisenhower and West Valley are returning state veterans, as are the seventh-place trophy winning Bears.

Veterans, kills leader Keann White, setter and serving standout Jade Rockwood, her twin sister and defensive star Meghan Rockwood, plus state track placers/volleyball standouts Hannah Reiman and Sydney Johnson have been CV bell weathers.  

Football on roll
The Bears are a different team than last year's lineup.  They'd already equaled last year's three-win season heading into a key Oct. 1 contest against Mead with postseason implications.

Indeed, it wouldn't be a stretch to say they could be unbeaten.

CV let their season opener get away against Coeur d'Alene, squandering a 23-8 lead at halftime and a 30-16 lead late in the third quarter of their 37-30 loss.

Since then, the Bears won three straight games.

The Bears beat Lewis and Clark 21-3 in a league counter dominated by defenses and featured a 40-yard option pass from Conner DeGeest to Jace Edwards.

At times, 300-pound junior lineman Jordan Talifili blew through Tigers linemen, scattering them like so many bowling pins.

A third of the way through the season, Tanner Sloan had passed for 398 yards. Gage Connole and Alec Doyle had done the lion's share of rushing with a combined 72 carries for 277 yards. Ben Craig scored on a 68-yard reception as he, Rhett Foley and sophomore Edwards were Sloan's main targets.

Youth is served
CV's girls soccer team has only four seniors on this year's roster that includes seven freshmen, but the two-time defending state champions had lost just once before heading into the meat of their GSL schedule, which includes a Sept. 30 home match against league favorite Mead.

Eleven different players had scored, led by sophomore Kaelyn Barnes, who ably has taken over the scoring load from the departed Kelsey Turnbow. She recorded 11 goals in the team's five reported matches.

Freshman Kailyn Labrosse and junior Cassie Peterson scored three goals apiece. Natalie Cabiad had two goals and three assists and Kaite Van Etten added four assists.

Fit to be tied
Central Valley girls cross country historically starts slow and peaks in the postseason.

This year, the Bears faced the other schools favored in the league, Mt. Spokane and Lewis and Clark out of the chute, and all three, a rare if not unprecedented outcome.

The sixth-runner tiebreaker determined the outcome, and CV drew the short straw against both teams. Briegan Bester finished third overall, but the next week, CV was victorious over North Central and Ferris, as was Bester.

Softball in swing
As of this publication, new-look CV was 3-2 in slowpitch softball, thanks in part to a trio of players.

The battery of Aubry Williams and Maci Peha had combined for 18 hits, Peha sharing the team lead with Aimee Gores at 11 apiece.

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