The Prairie Falcons capitalized on the rare, but new, opportunity to clinch a volleyball state berth as the Falcons swept the Shelton Highclimbers to open the new District 4 volleyball tournament format on Thursday, Nov. 13.
“I’m thankful to be going to state again, and I’m really excited that this group of kids that have been working so hard will get to experience the SunDome,” Falcons head coach Jen Palmer said after the win over Shelton.
The new district tournament format provided the Prairie faithful a chance to see the program clinch their state berth on home court. But for the Falcons, it comes with a lack of opponent diversity.
For 3A state tournaments, there are 20 berths available, in comparison to the usual 16 in other classifications. With that, the 3A Greater St. Helens League, being in District 4, received two automatic berths to state this year in all sports. The primary reason for dropping bi-district tournaments with District 3 is the cost of time and money spent on travel, including multiple trips and overnight stays, according to league officials.
“This format, it’s bittersweet. We really do enjoy the opportunity of seeing different teams,” Palmer said. “Not necessarily more competitive, but just different. We’re going to be facing one of our league opponents on Saturday, and while we love competing against them, we are going to miss the opportunity of just seeing different competition and preparing for different things.”
The Falcons followed up by taking care of business yet again to keep the undefeated league slate with zero dropped sets alive with a 3-0 win over Kelso High School in the District 4 championship on Saturday, Nov. 15. With an undefeated record in the 3A Greater St. Helens League, Prairie was awarded the fourth seed in the 3A state volleyball tournament.
The Falcons will begin their state tournament journey in the Yakima Valley SunDome on Friday, Nov. 21 against the winner of 13 seed White River versus 20 seed University.
The Falcons will host the winner on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. A win propels the Falcons into the state quarterfinal round on Friday, Nov. 21, at 9 p.m. against the winner of fifth-seeded Lakeside versus 12 seed Everett. A loss sends the Falcons into a losers bracket battle for seventh/eighth place beginning with a matchup against the loser of Everett versus Lakeside on Friday, Nov. 21, at 5:15 p.m.
