Saints ‘pirate’ Halloween bash
The MHCC Saintʼs volleyball team hosted their annual Dorian Harris Classic, where many of the players played in costume. The Saints went on to sweep the Olympic Rangers in the fi nals to win the tournament.
With a commanding lead in the Southern Region, the MHCC volleyball team took a break from league play last weekend to host its annual Dorian Harris Classic.
With tough competition such as Highline, Olympic, and Walla Walla (all second place or better in their respective regions) it offered a good test for the Saints as their season comes to a close.
They opened up the weekend facing the Whatcom Orcas (2-8 in the North; 8-21 overall), a team MHCC beat earlier in the season at the Edmonds Crossover tournament (25-18; 25-17). The Saints proved to be the better squad yet again, making quick work in a threeset sweep (25-15; 25-19; 25-22) of the Orcas.
Next up were the Pierce Raiders (7-4 in the West; 20-14 overall). It was the first meeting of the year for the two clubs, and the Saints held court, dominating through three sets (25- 12; 25-15; 25-14) to improve to 2-0 on the weekend. Saturday would bring the Saints’ toughest test of the tournament, matching up with the Highline Thunderbirds.
After a surprising loss for Highline against Clackamas a night earlier, the Thunderbirds beat Columbia Basin to move to 2-1 on the weekend, facing MHCC in a win-or-go home scenario. The Saints, while pressed and pushed past three sets for the first time all weekend, sent the Western region leaders (9-1 in the West; 28-10 overall) back home (27-25; 22- 25; 25-19; 25-22) and advanced in the Tournament.
Matched up with Southern Region foe Umpqua, the Saints would play for a spot in the championship game against a Riverhawk team (4-3 in the South; 26-16 overall) they hadn’t dropped a set to all year. Though the trend didn’t continue, MHCC took control after splitting the first two sets, and eventually came out on top (25-23; 22- 25; 25-18; 22-25; 15-10), sending Umpqua home empty-handed. In the title game, the Saints faced off against the Olympic Rangers (9-1 in the North; 29-9 overall) a team they hadn’t seen all year.
That didn’t stifle the MHCC attack, as the Saints swept the Rangers out of the gym (25-13; 25-20; 25-21), maintaining home court advantage all weekend and winning the tournament.
MHCC will host the NWAACC championship tournament this year, and hopes to continue its home court dominance. But first, the Saints hit the road for their final two league games , including tonight’s matchup with the Southern Region’s fourthplace Clackamas Cougars.
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