Seniors Lead the Way as Bonney Lake Sweeps Sumner on Senior Night
On a night built around seven seniors, the seniors made sure it ended the right way. Bonney Lake swept down-the-hill rival Sumner 25-18, 25-23, 25-12 on Tuesday in front of a packed gym, with both sides of the bleachers full and plenty of Sumner fans making the short trip up the hill.
The night started before the first serve, when senior Izumi “Zi” Taijeron sang the national anthem. By the end of the first set she was closing it out with an ace. Taylin Beers led the way with nine kills, and the Panthers snapped a two-match skid to move to 9-6 overall and 6-5 in South Puget Sound League play.
Taijeron Closes Out a Comeback Opener
Sumner jumped all over the Panthers to start, taking the first five points of the match. Beers stopped the bleeding from the service line with three straight points, and Marley Joseph followed with a big spike, but Sumner still led 11-7 after Beers answered with a hard swing from the outside.
Taijeron checked in and changed the set. She served up three straight points to cut it to 10-12, and the Panthers kept grinding until it was tied 14-14 with Beers back at the line. Then Olivia Uhler went up for a block that brought the whole gym to its feet, and Bonney Lake grabbed its first lead of the night at 16-14.
From there it was all Panthers. Tessa Rice served at 19-15, Joseph took over with a couple of big spikes and a soft tip to make it 21-16, and Beers hammered one from the outside for 23-18. Taijeron came back to the line to finish it, taking the last two points, the final one an ace, for a 25-18 win. After falling behind 5-0, Bonney Lake outscored Sumner 25-13 the rest of the way.
Predmore Delivers Late
Beers opened the second set the way she likes to, slamming one down from her favorite spot on the outside. It turned into a back-and-forth fight after that. Kamryn Davisson ended a long rally full of saves on both sides with a kill from the outside to tie it 5-5, and senior libero Tessa Lee kept the back row steady, adding to a season that has seen her pile up more than 220 digs.
Sumner pushed ahead 12-9, but Beers kept the Panthers close by putting one down the left sideline at 13-11, and Elli Larwig chipped in three kills in the set. Sophomore Kaliyah Heng went to the line and helped push Bonney Lake ahead 17-15, and head coach Eva Millan kept rotating fresh legs in off the bench all night. Joseph checked back in and immediately spiked one down for an 18-16 lead.
Sumner wasn’t done. The Spartans tied it at 19 and again at 20, and the gym got loud. That’s when Lia Predmore stepped to the line. The senior setter served up three straight points, including an ace, to put Bonney Lake up 23-20. Sumner pulled within one twice, but its serve at 24-23 sailed long, and the Panthers took the set 25-23.
Beers Takes Over From the Service Line
Sumner took the first two points of the third set, and Uhler answered with big swings from the right side. Then Beers went back to serve, and she didn’t leave for a while. With Bonney Lake trailing 2-1, Beers served through a seven-point run that included a huge block from Rice and a slam from Davisson, making it 8-2 and forcing Sumner to burn a timeout to try to cool her off.
The timeout broke the run, but not the momentum. Uhler slammed home another for 10-4, Sumner chipped back to 13-9, and then Rice delivered a play that belonged on an ESPN highlight reel. She spun backward in a full pirouette, faked out the entire Sumner defense, and put the ball away as the gym erupted. She kept rolling with Predmore serving, and the lead grew to 17-9.
Beers came back to the line and finished what she started, opening with an ace, keeping the run going to 21-10, then adding another ace for 23-10. Uhler slammed down match point, and after Sumner saved two, a Spartan serve into the net ended it, 25-12.
By the Numbers
Taylin Beers: 9 kills, 2 solo blocks, 1 block assist
Marley Joseph: 6 kills, 2 solo blocks
Tessa Rice: 6 kills, 2 solo blocks, 1 block assist
Olivia Uhler: 5 kills, 2 solo blocks, 1 block assist
Elli Larwig: 4 kills, 1 block assist
Kamryn Davisson: 3 kills, 2 solo blocks
Team: 33 kills, 10 solo blocks
Seven seniors were honored Tuesday: Izumi “Zi” Taijeron, Tessa Lee, Taylin Beers, Lia Predmore, Kamryn Davisson, Olivia Uhler and Tessa Rice. Every one of them had a hand in this one, from Taijeron’s anthem and set-ending ace to Predmore’s late serving run, Rice’s pirouette, and Beers taking over the third set from the service line. On their night, against the school down the hill, they made sure Sumner went home empty-handed.
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