Plenty of new faces have graced the Kentwood volleyball court during the last four years. The program’s unmatched success, however, has continued.
Monday night at Kentwood, the Conquerors continued their roll, handling Kentlake in four games — 25-22, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19 — to secure their fourth straight South Puget Sound League North Division title.
And while the Conks may feel pressure to succeed, it certainly hasn’t showed.
“I hope they feel it,” said coach Bil Caillier. “I think expectations are a really good thing. I hope they understand their value as a person has nothing to do with winning the title.”
Yet, thanks to the sister act of senior Lauren Campbell and sophomore Erin Campbell along with star Jessie Genger, winning titles is all the Conquerors seem to do these days.
Genger hammered out 17 kills, Lauren Campbell added 16 while Erin Campbell chipped in 10.
Caillier was particularly impressed with the young Campbell.
“She had 10 kills, but what you don’t see is she had just 16 swings … she hit over .500 for the night and had just one error,” the coach noted. “It seemed every time we needed the ball back, she was doing it.”
The win helped the Conquerors complete their fourth straight perfect league season. During that span, Kentwood has racked up a 45-0 SPSL North record. The victory also helped the Conquerors secure the top berth to today’s SPSL tournament, which will be held at Kentwood High. Kentwood will play Rogers, the South Division champion, at 7 p.m. for the title.
The Conquerors have beaten Rogers once already this season. In addition, they’ve knocked off the Rams for the SPSL crown in both 2006 and 2007.
The top five teams from the SPSL North earned berths to the tournament. Also advancing will be Kentlake (7-1), Kent-Meridian (6-2), Auburn Riverside (5-3) and Kentridge (4-4).
All five North Division teams have automatically qualified for the district tournament, which will be held Nov. 7 and Nov. 15 at the Kitsap County Pavilion in Bremerton. The tournament also will include the top teams from the Narrows League. The top six teams from the district tournament advance to state.
Monday’s win over Kentlake proved to be an up-and-down affair, Caillier said.
Kentwood took a 19-9 lead in the opening game only to watch Kentlake pull to within two points. The Falcons used that momentum to take the second game, 25-21.
“(Kentlake) came out in the first two games and served and passed at a really high level,” Caillier pointed out. “I said to myself, ‘If they keep this up, we’re in trouble. It was college-level good.”
But as they have the last four years, the Conquerors found a way to win in the end.
Setter Stephanie Shumaker delivered a match-high 40 assists in the win.
But as good as Kentwood has been the last four years, Kentlake hasn’t been too far behind. In each of the last four years, the Falcons have finished second to the Conquerors. During that span, Kentlake has racked up a 37-9 record.
Kentlake’s big-hitting tandem of Melissa Kozy and Sarah Ralph proved to be Kentwood’s biggest threat on Monday. Kozy delivered 11 kills and 12 digs while Ralph added 14 kills and 10 digs. Holly Marx served up many of those kills, collecting 32 assists for the night.
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