Crown them! Washington Union girls win state volleyball championship
The little team from Easton is a state champion.
The Washington Union High girls volleyball team, with nary a club (offseason travel) player on its roster, marched into Southern California on Friday and won the state Division V championship in dominating fashion.
The Panthers (37-8) swept SoCal top seed El Camino Real-Woodland Hills 25-16, 25-20, 25-22 at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
Washington Union’s only true volleyball success until this season was back-to-back league titles in 1985-86. The program scored its first postseason win in at least the 2000s last year in the Central Section first round.
But this year the Panthers added senior transfer Sydney Kuma, an all-around athlete who on Wednesday signed to play softball at national top-10 program Georgia. Kuma meshed with senior Cece Lopez and junior Mariah Holland to give Washington Union front-line power, senior libero Celina Garcia patrolled the back line and two sophomores stepped up their play: 5-foot-3 outside hitter Tina Lo and setter Maynhia Thao.
The result was a tie for second place in the North Sequoia League, a run as top seed to the Central Section D-V championship and then regional victories as the No. 3 seed over No. 14 LeGrand, No. 6 Escalon, No. 7 Vacaville Christian and No. 4 Ripon.
The Panthers added to the school’s state championship trophy case that includes one in football and four in boys basketball, plus a Cal-Hi No. 1 state ranking in baseball.
Kuma said there were nerves at the start of the match, “but after we took the first set I was just excited to get the job done and win state!”
Washington Union did it in an unexpectedly quiet gym. Two school buses with 106 students left Easton at 10 a.m. Friday headed for the match. One arrived in the middle of the third set; the other pulled up in time to join the victory celebration.
Coach Allison Hetherington had complimented the student section on its support throughout the playoff run – including a team walk through campus Thursday where students lined the corridors and the marching band followed to a rally in the quad. The team departed for Orange from there.
Students on the late-arriving bus watched the final point on live-streaming video.
The Panthers were never in trouble Friday until late in the third set – quite a contrast to a grueling, come-from-behind five-set victory in the regional final. El Camino Real was the first Los Angeles City Section team to reach a state final since 1979.
“From the first serve to the last we played as a team fought every point,” Hetherington said. “Everyone stepped up when they needed to and played their role to the fullest.”
Hetherington said Kuma “played at a different level tonight. She had 26 kills and 17 digs and not only that she was constantly talking and encouraging her teammates.
“With that being said, she couldn’t have done it alone. Everyone contributed in their own way. These girls made history tonight.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2018 at 6:33 PM.