State volleyball: Christian Faith HS finishes second at Class 1B tournament

The Christian Faith High School girls volleyball team came up one match short last weekend.

The Eagles lost to Almira/Coulee-Hartline in the Class 1B state championship match Friday night inside the Yakima SunDome, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23. Federal Way-based Christian Faith came into the tournament as the top-ranked Class 1B team in the state and won their first three matches in Yakima.

But Almira/Coulee-Hartline controlled the championship, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the first game and a 19-8 lead in the second game to bury Christian Faith.

"We finished just shy of our goal at state and came in second," said head coach Stephanie Pond. "We fought and won three tough matches on day one landing us in the championship game. Unfortunately, we did not win that fight."

The Eagles squeaked by third-ranked Colton in their state opener on Thursday in Yakima in five games, 25-23, 25-10, 25-27, 24-26, 15-10.

In the quarterfinals, Christian Faith knocked off Trout Lake-Glenwood 26-24, 24-26, 25-12, 25-20, scoring the final nine points in the fourth game. In the semifinals, the Eagles also closed out Wilbur-Creston, scoring seven of the final nine points of the match to earn the championship berth against Almira/Coulee-Hartline.

Christian Faith was led by junior Kendra Ireigbe, who finished the tournament with 61 kills. SeaTac League Most Valuable Player Amanda Tofaeono finished with 144 assists, seven aces and 10 kills, Makenzie Carroll, a senior outside hitter, had 52 kills and 91 digs, Alisa Tofaeono had 18 kills, nine aces and 69 digs and Dena Green finished with 75 digs and received 100 serves to lead the Eagles.

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