State tournament previews: Gonzaga Prep football continues revenge tour; GSL well represented at big school volleyball; West Valley girls soccer seeks title

The state football playoffs are in the quarterfinals, while 4A/3A volleyball and girls soccer have reached the state venues. Thirteen area teams, including seven from the Greater Spokane League, are still vying for a state championship so let’s take a look at the remaining entries and their matchups this weekend.

Football

4A: This season has been all about going one game further than last season for Gonzaga Prep. If the Bullpups are to avenge their semifinal loss in the 2024 state playoffs, they must first pass their toughest test yet this season.

Third-seeded G-Prep (11-0) had little trouble dispatching 14th-seeded Curtis (7-4) 42-0 in its first-round win last week, which earned a Saturday afternoon home date with sixth-seeded Graham-Kapowsin (10-1).

The Bullpups used a devastating rushing attack against Curtis, running 39 times for 357 yards. Johan Keller was the outside threat, carrying seven times for 148 yards with three touchdowns, while fullback Jimmy Grainger pounded the interior with 17 carries for 130 yards with a score.

“We’ve got good blockers out there every play,” Keller said after the game. “I’m just following my guys. They do their job, and I do mine.”

“Our inside guys are really good,” G-Prep coach Nate Graham said. “Those five guys really play as a unit. And when you get blocking like that … it’s impressive to see.”

Graham-Kapowsin’s 6-foot-4 sophomore quarterback AJ Tuivaiave – a three-star college prospect who already has offers from Washington and Oregon among others – missed three games earlier this season with a foot injury but has rounded into form and threw four TD passes in the Eagles’ 34-7 win over 11th-seeded Kennedy Catholic last week.

2B: Second-seeded Newport (10-0) kept its perfect season alive last week downing 15th-seeded Rainier (5-6) 56-6 in its first-round game.

Kutter Driver rushed for three first-half touchdowns, including a 77-yarder, and Keaton Shults added a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter. Jacob Reimers picked off a pair of passes, and the Grizzlies recorded five turnovers in the first half.

Newport hosts seventh-seeded Adna (9-2) on the red turf at Roos Field at Eastern Washington University on Saturday.

Fourth-seeded Freeman handled 13th-seeded Cle Elum-Roslyn (8-3) 47-6 in the first round and hosts fifth-seeded Okanogan (9-2), which beat 12th-seeded Reardan 24-0, on Friday evening.

1B: Fourth-seeded Almira/Coulee-Hartline (9-1) hosts fifth-seeded Naselle (9-1) at Lions Field in Moses Lake, while Southeast 1B Wheat champ and sixth-seeded Pomeroy (9-1) plays third-seeded Wahkiakum (10-0) at Kelso Stadium.

Volleyball

4A: After having already breezed through their nonleague slate – which included a title at the Sheridan-Welch Crossover Classic – Gonzaga Prep volleyball hit an unexpected speed bump.

The Bullpups dropped a five-set thriller at Lewis and Clark, a team they had swept two weeks earlier.

Since that early-October evening though, the Bullpups have been nothing short of dominant. They now hope that form continues into the State 4A tournament on Friday and Saturday at the Yakima Valley SunDome in Yakima, where G-Prep earned the No. 3 seed in the bracket.

“This has been a really driven group and the motivation to go out and win is there for every girl that steps on the court,” Gonzaga Prep coach Nikki Leonard said. “We learned a hard lesson midway through the year, but they bounced back so well from that and didn’t shut down because of it.”

The Bullpups (17-1) open the tournament against No. 14-seeded Mount Rainier at 9:45 a.m. Friday.

G-Prep will look to lean on its strong offensive attack as it has all season, paced by the play of standout outside hitter Mara Sandberg – a junior who is committed to play at the University of Tennessee.

But Sandberg is far from the only offensive threat at Leonard’s disposal.

“Our senior setter Noella Migliuri makes everyone’s job look easy and it’s a really difficult job,” Leonard said. “And then on top of Mara we have five strong hitters that can attack from the middle, outside. Really everywhere we need them so it adds so much to our offense.”

The Bullpups also have the benefit of being drawn on the opposite side of the bracket as top-seeded Curtis (22-2).

“We’ve had a chance to watch lots of film, so we have an idea especially with some of these west side teams what to expect and we can then work that into practice,” Leonard said. “But we also live for the games against our league because these teams are so tough and we’re so lucky to have the competition we have right here.”

Mead (12-6) will also represent the GSL in the 4A tournament, earning the No. 12 seed and a first-round matchup against fifth-seeded Camas at 9:45 a.m.

3A: Just one week after Mt. Spokane topped a GSL foe Ridgeline to claim the district tournament crown, the two teams seem set to rumble again – this time on the state’s biggest stage.

The district-champion Wildcats (15-3) earned the No. 2 seed into the State 3A tournament, while the defending state champion Falcons (13-6) are seeded seventh.

That seeding puts the pair in line for a quarterfinal showdown Friday evening at the SunDome if both win their opening-round matches.

“It’s kind of bittersweet honestly. We want to see the Spokane teams do well and maybe play them down the line, not in the second round,” Ridgeline coach Whitney Abell said. “But they’re phenomenal athletes and we want to play our best against the best competition, which they are one of the best in the state.”

The Wildcats will take on either 18th-seeded Kelso or No. 14 Timberline in their 1:30 p.m. opener Friday, while Ridgeline will take on 10th-seeded Bishop Blanchet – a team they beat en route to last year’s title – also at 1:30 p.m.

“We only bring back five girls that were on that title team last year, but they can at least bring that experience and let the younger girls know what to expect,” Abell said. “Our seeding is just an expectation and we talk about expectations vs. standards. I really believe we can be right back in the title discussion again this year if we really lock in.”

University (9-11) also qualified for state for the first time since the 2018 season, earning the No. 20 seed and a loser-out game against 13th-seeded White River at 8 a.m.

Girls soccer

2A: Second-seeded West Valley (20-0) shut out its first two opponents at state 15-0, continuing the Eagles’ trend of dominating the competition. They beat 15th-seeded Nathan Hale (12-7) 8-0 in the first round and followed that with a 7-0 win over seventh-seeded Cedarcrest (16-5-1) in a quarterfinal.

West Valley has outscored its opponents this season 148-0.

“We’re just strictly focused on wanting to win that state championship, and that’s what we’re putting our heads to right now,” coach CC Collins said before districts in October.

“We talk about it every day,” senior Jenna Howe said. “It’s been our goal for the past two years, so to not win state would definitely be disappointing.”

The Eagles draw sixth-seeded Hockinson (16-5) in a semifinal on Friday at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.

2B/1B: Two Northeast 2B teams have reached the state semifinals – third-seeded and defending state champion Freeman (18-2) and fifth-seeded Northwest Christian (17-3). Freeman’s only two losses this season came against NWC, while the Crusaders have a loss to Freeman and two to league rival Davenport.

“Defending their state title has been their No. 1 goal since the first day of practice.” Freeman coach Dave Ellis said. “It’s been the only thing they’ve talked about.”

The Scotties blanked 14th-seeded Pateros 7-0 in the first round and topped sixth-seeded Davenport 4-1 in a quarterfinal. In the win over the Gorillas, Rylee Russell scored twice, pushing her season total to 65 goals – most in Washington regardless of classification and third nationally, according to MaxPreps. Sophomore Nora Gass is third in the state in scoring.

Russell has committed to play at College of Idaho next season.

“She has had an amazing career,” Ellis said. “She’s the school’s all-time leading scorer and she’s our captain – a leader on and off the field.”

NWC shut out 12th-seeded Onalaska (10-9-1) 4-0 in the first round and topped fourth-seeded Brewster (18-3-1) 4-1 in Wenatchee in a quarterfinal.

Freeman takes on second-seeded Cle Elum-Roslyn (16-4-1) and NWC faces top-seeded Crosspoint Christian (15-2-1) in semifinals on Friday at Mount Tahoma HS in Tacoma.{span class=”print_trim”}

Should both reach the state title game, it’ll be the fourth match between the two teams.

”They’ve had our number a couple of times,” Ellis said. “They’ll be a familiar foe if it works out that way.”

Madison McCord contributed to this report