BLHS VOLLEYBALL: No. 10 Bonney Lake falls to Lakes, gets No. 6 seed at district

The 10th-ranked Bonney Lake fell to SPSL 3A rival Lakes, 3-1, in the game for fifth and sixth place at Friday and Saturday’s West Central District III-Southwest District IV tournament.

The 10th-ranked Bonney Lake High volleyball team fell to South Puget Sound League 3A rival Lakes, 3-1, in the game for fifth and sixth place at Friday and Saturday’s West Central District III-Southwest District IV tournament.

Bonney Lake, the district No. 6 seed, will face the Olympic-Western League’s No. 2 seed, at 3:45 p.m. Friday at Auburn Mountainview. The Panthers will play again at 7:15 p.m., win or lose.

The top eight teams from district advance to state.

Lake won, 25-19, 18-25, 25-14, 25-22, on Friday in the SPSL/Seamount subdistrict tournament at Mount Rainier High in Des Moines.

Bonney Lake, 13-6, had an easy first-round match with Foster, defeating the Bulldogs, 3-0. The Panthers took the first game, 25-9, won the second 25-22 and finished off Foster with a 25-11 win.

In the second round, the Panthers downed host Mount Rainier, 3-1.

After winning the first two games, 25-22 and 25-18, the Rams came back to claim the third, 25-18. But Bonney Lake held off a Mount Rainier rally in the fourth game, 25-22.

In the regular season finale, Sumner may not be going to the playoffs, but they gave Bonney Lake all they could handle Oct. 26 on the Panthers’ home court.

Sumner won the fourth match to tie the game at two, before the Panthers clinched the victory with a 15-9 win in the rally-point match.

Bonney Lake took the opening match, 25-19, but Sumner bounced back for a 25-20 win. The Panthers came back for a 25-18 win only to see Sumner rally for a 25-23 victory in the fourth match.

Allison Hills led Bonney Lake with 19 kills, while Erica LeFever had 16 and Danielle Norton added 10. Chelsea Merkel dished out 57 assists with eight digs and two aces.

Defensively, Karly Edwards recorded 16 digs, Hannah Healey had 12 and Bailey Kinkel added 10.

Norton and Ashley Reisen served three aces each.

For Sumner, Kayla Roberts had nine kills and three blocks, while Kailey Smith handed out 33 assists. Rachel Venefra blocked six shots and Janille Panula had 18 digs.

The Panthers finish in third place with a 6-2 mark in the SPSL 3A division, while Sumner ended the season 3-11 overall and 2-6 in the league.