Ravens make statement with district championship | Prep volleyball

Not all coaches in the Auburn School District were in favor of “opting up” a classification to join North Puget Sound League 4A.

But as her athletes hoisted the West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament volleyball championship trophy Saturday at Kentwood, Auburn Riverside coach Chris Leverenz made her opinion clear on the subject.

Even though the Ravens won the 3A state title two years ago, Leverenz was not certain how serious larger schools took her team.

“When you’re switching leagues all of the time … you lose that respect level,” she said.

For that reason, she said the Ravens’ 17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13 win against Bellarmine Prep to capture the district title was significant.

“I think it was good for us to be able to step up and do that,” Leverenz said. “It was a great victory for us.”

Even if it was not as clean as she would have liked.

“I don’t feel like we played our best volleyball until maybe the last few points,” Leverenz said. “We played very tentative and a little bit nervous.”

Junior outside hitter Calley Heilborn, who had 17 kills and 16 digs, shared similar sentiments.

“I think we were a little complacent, a little lazy,” she said. “Bellarmine’s a great team, and we had to come out with fire.”

Leverenz said some of her players are friends with the Lions and she felt her team became caught up in that during the first game.

“There was a little bit of smirking going on,” she said. “We’ve got to fireup and don’t let that happen. That’s a distraction.”

One of the few that Auburn Riverside experienced during the two-day tournament. The Ravens swept Kent-Meridian and Curtis before they defeated Puyallup 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-15 in the semifinals.

“I came in being confident,” Leverenz said. “I don’t know if I knew we would be district champs. I knew we had to get through a lot of good people.”

And Leverenz leaned on Heilborn to accomplish it.

“I think Calley (relaxes) sometimes,” she said. “She lays back until she realizes nobody else is going to do it and then she steps up.”

Heilborn had a kill to score Auburn Riverside’s 14th point and then teamed freshman middle blocker Brianna Ingram for the winning block in the fifth game.

“It literally was the happiest thing over,” Heilborn said. “I was like, ‘Yes, it’s over and we won.’ ”

The Ravens (19-1) now head to the Toyota Center in Kennewick, where they compete Friday and Saturday. It will be the 12th state-playoff appearance in the program’s 22 seasons.

Leverenz expects her team to be challenged by West Valley of Yakima, which handed Auburn Riverside its only loss of the season, and teams from the Ravens’ district at state.

“My kids kind of got some eye-openers this weekend,” Leverenz said. “It was good for them.”

Elsewhere

Auburn Mountainview finished seventh in the district tournament after it suffered a 25-11, 19-25, 25-23, 25-21 setback against Tahoma. Despite that, the Lions advance to state for the second consecutive year.

“It’s very exciting,” coach Talia McDonald said. “This tournament is super competitive. I don’t know how people thought the 3A schools would do in 4A, but overall we’re having a great time playing at this level.”

Senior outside hitter Kiley Lewis had 29 kills and a block against the Bears, while her classmate, Aliyah Fashaw, added five kills and four digs.