Beamer ends losing streak, tops Federal Way in season finale

Published 4:46 pm Thursday, October 29, 2015

A four-match losing streak had the Todd Beamer Titans looking for a confidence boost as they headed into their final regular-season match against Federal Way. Their 3-0 win over the Eagles on Monday has them back on the right track.

The postseason has been assured for the Titans for awhile now. Just last week they were in the running to be one of the top seeded teams from the South Puget Sound League North for the league playoffs.

Consecutive losses to Tahoma, Kentwood, Mount Rainier and Kentlake derailed that possibility and pushed the Titans back to the middle of the standings.

Federal Way and Beamer already met earlier in the season and the Titans claimed a 3-1 victory. The Eagles were looking to end their season on a high note after being eliminated from playoff contention the week prior.

The first set on Monday went to Beamer by a score of 25-14.

The following sets were much more competitive as the Titans won 25-20 and 25-21. Federal Way gave themselves chances to win a set, but were unable to keep pace with Beamer late in the sets.

With the Eagles season ending, their head coach Donja Walker praised the improvement of the team over the course of the season.

For Beamer, the team is hoping that this performance will be closer to what they see in the postseason.

Camryn Skari led the team with 14 kills, 11 digs and three service aces in the match. Leena McKenzie led the team in digs with 24. Renee Tiumalu added 10 kills and 17 digs.

“I feel good that we ended the regular season with a win,” Beamer head coach Pat Taitano said. “We’ve been on a little bit of a losing streak. I know we’ve been playing well, we’ve just been falling short. I think it’s just focus down the stretch. I think a little bit of nerves got to the girls when we were battling for first place.”

Beamer finishes the year with the fifth seed out of the South Puget Sound League North. They began play in the SPSL Tournament on Thursday after the Mirror’s publishing deadline.

“I hope to see us be aggressive and actually come together and play well,” Taitano said. “I think I like our chances. I feel like we can match up with most teams. I hope to win two games so we can get a nice seed going into districts.”

Eleven out of the 12 teams in the tournament will advance to the West Central District Tournament.