Kentlake to Face Gig Harbor

Kentlake will face Gig Harbor in the first round of the West Central District #3 playoffs on Friday at noon at Kentwood. The game will be on Court #4 which should be in the New Gym.

Gig Harbor went undefeated during the Narrows League regular season, but lost twice on Saturday, 3-2 to Olympia and 3-1 to Wilson to finish as the #4 seed.

The winner of the Kentlake/Gig Harbor match will face the winner of the Kentwood/Emerald Ridge match at 5:15, while the losers of those matches will face-off at 3:30. Both matches will also be on Court #4.

Kentlake Sweeps Bethel

All the other matches to that point had gone five, but Kentlake was determined to put Bethel away and they did in three (25-21, 26-24, 25-11). The Falcons were paced by Amelia Hilsen with 17 kills and Melissa Kozy with 10. Brittany Jamison had 37 assists. Defensively Jen Barber had 17 digs and Melissa Kozy had 10. The Falcons had no solo blocks, but Kathy Taylor led the team with three assist blocks.

Taylor Gets Two More Records

Senior Middle Blocker Kathy Taylor tied one Kentlake school record and set another in the match with Curtis. She had five solo blocks which ties the all-time school match record. In addition that gives her 28 solo blocks for the year, which breaks the season record (was 27). Last year she tied the school record for Aces in a match with 10 against Decatur (tying Hannah Merritt and Courtney Thompson).

Kentlake Loses in Five to Curtis

Kentlake fell behind early to SPSL South #2 seed Curtis but rallied to force game five. However, the rally was not enough and Curtis pulled out the victory (25-22, 25-22, 16-25, 16-25, 15-8). Kentlake was paced by 12 kills each from Kathy Taylor and Melissa Kozy and 10 kills from Amelia Hilsen. Brittany Jamison had 39 assists in the match. Kathy Taylor led the Falcon defense with 7 blocks and 13 digs. Jennifer Barber had 17 digs while Maggie Henley added 6 blocks.

Week's Best Preps: Brittany Jamison

From the October 27 Kent Reporter (no online version available)

Brittany Jamison
Kentlake

Grade: Senior
Sport: Volleyball
Accomplishments: Jamison, a setter, dished out 20 assists in three-game sweep (25-14, 25-19, 25-21) of Kentridge on Oct. 17. The win helped the Flacons move into second place in the South Puget Sound League North Division.
Favorite class: Calculus BC
If you could be any action hero - Batman, Wonder Woman, etc - whom would you be, and why? I would be Elastigirl from The Incredibles so I could make myself as tall as I wanted to be.
Also noted: Jamison has been on the varsity volleyball team for four years at Kentlake and hold an impressive 3.91 GPA.

Editor's Note: Brittany is the first, and only, four year Varsity letterman in volleyball at Kentlake

Kentlake Gets SPSL North #3 Seed

Kentlake lost to Tahoma 2-1 (18-25, 25-22, 12-15) Thursday night but swept Kentridge (25-23, 25-19) to take the SPSL North #3 seed. Kentlake was led for the night by Amelia Hilsen with 16 kills and Melissa Kozy with 15 kills, 4 aces and 11 digs. Kathy Taylor 8 kills and 4 blocks while Maggie Henley had 5 kills and 3 blocks. Jen Barber had 17 digs and 2 aces. Britanny Jamison had 42 assists.

Kentlake will play Curtis HS (SPSL South #2 seed) at 11am tomorrow. Curtis is 12-2 on the year with losses to (and victories over) Rogers and Puyallup. The winner of that match will play the winner of the Tahoma/Puyallup match at 3pm. The loser of the Curtis/Kentlake match will play the winner of the Thomas Jefferson (SPSL North #5)/Emerald Ridge (SPSL South #4) match at 5pm.

SPSL Playoffs Seeds Set

Kentlake will face Tahoma in the "A" Match at 6pm on Thursday for the SPSL North #2 seed. The loser of that match will face Kentridge at 7pm for the #3 and #4 seeds. Both matches will be Best 2 out of 3.

Please come out to support the Falcons as they go for the SPSL North #2 seed and a match against Puyallup.

SPSL North Tie Breaker on Thursday

The format and times for the SPSL North Tie Breaker have been released. Which team gets which draw will be determined this afternoon.

There will be three teams playing for three spots: Kentlake, Tahoma and Kentridge. Lots will be drawn to designate these teams as A, B, and C.

Teams A and B will play at 6pm on Thursday at Kentwood. The winner will be the SPSL North #2 seed (Kentwood is SPSL North #1 seed) to the SPSL Playoffs. The loser of Game 1 will play Team C at 7pm. The winner of that game will be the SPSL North #3 seed and the loser will be the SPSL North #4 seed.

The SPSL Playoffs will be this Saturday at Bethel HS in Spanaway. The top five teams in the SPSL North and the top five teams in the SPSL South are involved. All 10 teams will move on to the West Central District #3 Playoffs the following Saturday at Kentwood. The top 6 teams from the Narrows League will also be involved at WCD.

The SPSL North #2 seed will play the SPSL South #3 (Puyallup) seed at 11am on Saturday. The SPSL North #3 seed will play the SPSL South #2 (Curtis) seed, again at 11am. The winners of those matches will play at 3pm for the SPSL #3 and #4 seeds to Districts (Kentwood plays Rogers for the SPSL #1 and #2 seeds).

The SPSL North #4 seed will play the SPSL South #5 (Bethel) seed at 1pm. The winner of that match will play the loser of the North #2/South #3 game at 5pm. Similarly the North #5 (Thomas Jefferson) will play the South #4 (Emerald Ridge), with the winner playing the loser of the North #2/South #3 match. The winners of those matches do a coin flip for SPSL #5/#6 seeds, while the losers do a coin flip for SPSL #7/#8. The losers of the 4/5 matches do a coin flip for SPSL #9/#10.

You can download a copy of the bracket.

Varsity Loses to Kentwood

They gave a valiant effort, but the Kentlake varsity lost to Kentwood 25-21, 25-21, 25-14 last night. The loss, coupled with Tahoma and Kentridge victories, creates a three way tie for second place in the SPSL North. A playoff will be held Thursday (format, time and location still to be announced) to decide the seeds for Saturday's SPSL Playoffs.

Kentlake was paced by the 7 kills and 2 aces of Melissa Kozy. Maggie Henley added 5 kills. Defensively Amber Anderson was on fire with a total of 6 blocks (2 solo). Kathy Taylor added 4 blocks and 9 digs. Jennifer Barber also had 9 digs and 2 aces. Brittany Jamison had 15 assists.

The amazing Kentlake Pep Band added to a great atmosphere for Senior Night. Tim Vagen, who has provided jump training for several of the Kentlake players and was there as a Senior Night guest of Kathy Taylor, sang the National Anthem.

Senior Night and Kentwood

Tomorrow night is Kentlake Senior Night honoring the first four year Senior Class at Kentlake - Brittany Jamison, Kathy Taylor, Amelia Hilsen, Maggie Henley, Amber Anderson and Amanda Ogle. It is also time to spoil Kentwood's perfect record on the year and grab sole possession of 2nd place in the SPSL North. It should be an exciting night, full of tears and cheers. Please come out to support the teams.

The JV and Sophomore teams play at Kentlake at 6pm, while the Freshman team plays at Kentwood at 5pm.

Kentlake Sweeps Chargers

The Kentlake Varsity came out fired up and swept to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-21) victory over Kentridge on Wednesday. Sarah Ralph led the Falcons with 8 kills and 3 aces. Melissa Kozy added 6 kills, 7 digs and 5 aces. Jen Barber had 9 digs and 4 aces. Kathy Taylor had 7 digs and 4 blocks. Kentlake combined for 18 aces on the night.

Wednesday Showdown At Kentridge

The Kentlake Varsity, JV and Freshman teams travel to Kentridge on Wednesday. For Varsity it is an crucial game in the quest for the 2nd seed to the SPSL Tournament. They must win on Wednesday to have a chance for the second or third seed.

It is Senior Night for Kentridge and Kentridge is always a tough place to play, so we really need all the support the loyal Falcon fans can provide. So lets fill the stands and cheer the Falcons to victory.

The Sophomore team plays Tahoma at Kent-Meridian at 4pm.

JV and Varsity Sweep Federal Way

The Kentlake Varsity defeated Federal Way, 25-20, 25-5, 25-6 Monday night. Kentlake was paced by Kathy Taylor with 9 kills on 12 swings with no errors. Melissa Kozy had 6 kills and 3 aces, while Sarah Ralph led the Falcons with 5 aces. Brittany Jamison had 19 assists and Jen Barber led the team with 8 digs.

Rare Monday Night at Federal Way

It is another rare Monday/Wednesday set of games this week with Varsity and JV traveling to Federal Way on Monday and to the big showdown with Kentridge on Wednesday. The Freshman team travels to Kentwood for 4:00 contest against the Kentwood Silver team, while the Sophomore team travels to Kent-Meridian for a 5:45 contest against the KM C team.

Varsity Plays Well in Spokane

The Kentlake Varsity team played well overall in Spokane at the Crossover Classic, but could not close out games when it counted and finished 10-3 and in 13th place for the Tournament. Kentlake cruised through pool play with three game sweeps of Wilbur-Creston, Cheney and Gonzaga Prep. Kentlake lost the first round of bracket play in two 25-23 nail biters to East Valley. After surging to a 20-12 lead against University High, Kentlake gave up their one long streak for the weekend and fell 26-24. Determined to make up for the results against U-Hi and to keep from having to ref the final match (and some desire for revenge regarding last year's Kentridge's loss in the boy's basketball final), Kentlake steamrolled over Ferris for 13th place, 25-12.

Melissa Kozy led the Falcons with 34 kills for the day, but Kathy Taylor had 29 kills with only 2 errors for a blistering .491 hitting average. Brittany Jamison had 105 assists to bring her season total to over 400. She also had 12 aces to pace the team. Melissa Kozy led the Falcons with 25 digs and Jennifer Barber had 22. Maggie Henley led the team with 11 total blocks.

Note: While they played 13 games, the nine Pool Play games started at 7-7, so they were only 18 point games. That keeps the "per game" stat averages down about 1/3.

Varsity off to Spokane

The Kentlake Varsity is off to Spokane for the 64 team Spokane Crossover Tournament. The tournament is the largest high school volleyball tournament in the state and one of, if not the, largest in the country. Kentlake opens pool play on Saturday morning at Central Valley HS with Wilbur HS, followed by Cheney HS and Gonzaga Prep.

Falcons Sweep Royals

Looking determined after the loss to Tahoma, the Kentlake Falcons surged to huge leads in the first two games and swept Kent-Meridian Thursday night. Melissa Kozy led the Falcons with 12 kills. Kathy Taylor and Sarah Ralph contributed 8 kills each. Kathy Taylor and Jen Barber led the team in digs while Holly Marx led the team in assists with 26.

JV was swept by KM but did salvage a win in game three.

Falcons Fall in Five to Bears

Varsity dropped the first two games to Tahoma on Tuesday, but came back to force a deciding game five. Unfortunately the comeback fell just short as the Falcons lost 17-15 in five. The loss dropped Kentlake into a tie with Tahoma for 3rd place.

In the opening match, JV was swept by Tahoma.

Important Match at Tahoma

The Kentlake Varsity, JV and Freshman teams travel to Tahoma for matches on Tuesday. Varsity needs a win to stay in 2nd place in the SPSL North. Kentlake defeated the Bears 3-1 at Kentlake early in the season, but Tahoma is always tough at home. Tahoma always has a loud and vocal crowd, so we need lots of Falcon supporters to even things out.

The JV and Freshman teams play at 6pm with Varsity following at about 7:15.

The Sophomore team travels to Kentwood to play their Sophomore team at 5:45.

Kentlake Overcomes Raiders

The Kentlake Varsity overcame a scrappy Thomas Jefferson team on Thursday with a 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 25-14 victory. All 12 players played at least two games. The Falcons were once again led by Melissa Kozy with 12 kills and 9 aces. Sarah Ralph had 11 kills. Kathy Taylor, playing both front and back row, had 7 kills and 4 blocks and led the team with 16 service receptions. Brittany Jamison led the team with 26 assists. Jennifer Barber had 14 digs. The team had 23 aces spread between six players.

Varsity/JV Travel to TJ

The Kentlake Varsity and JV teams travel to Thomas Jefferson High in Federal Way on Thursday. Thomas Jefferson is 3-5 on the season and in fifth place in the SPSL North. Please make the trip to support the Falcons.

The Sophomore and Freshman teams are at home on Thursday. The Sophomore team hosts the Kentridge Freshman at 4pm team while the Freshman team hosts the Kent-Meridian Freshman team at 6pm.

Kentlake Sweeps Gators

Both the Kentlake Varsity and JV swept the Decatur Gators tonight in SPSL league play. Varsity won 25-12, 25-12, 25-14. All 12 players played and everyone got at least one dig. Melissa Kozy led the Falcons with 12 kills, 5 aces and 5 digs. Kathy Taylor had six kills, four aces and one block. Kelcee Merritt six kills and two aces. Brittany Jamison had 14 assists and Holly Marx had 9 assists and two aces.

Decatur Comes to Kentlake

The second half of the league schedule starts with the return trip of Decatur to Kentlake on Tuesday. Varsity swept the Gators in the first match of the season at Decatur. Please come out to support the Varsity and JV to start the second half right. The Freshman and Sophomore teams both travel to Kentridge.

Rooms Filling Quickly for Spokane

Parents interested in getting rooms at the special reduced rate for the trip to Spokane should make their reservations today or tomorrow. Three rooms have been added to the block, but there are only four rooms left. The Kentlake Varsity will play in the Spokane Crossover Tournament on October 13th. Details about where they will play and exactly what the rest of the schedule is will be available next week.