ELLENSBURG – Second-ranked Ellensburg punched its ticket to the Class 2A state volleyball tournament for the 11th straight time Saturday, sweeping past Prosser 25-16, 25-18, 25-23 and into the district championship match.

The top-seeded Bulldogs, the runners-up as last year’s state tourney, will meet eighth-ranked Selah, which is seeded third, in Ellensburg on Wednesday. The Vikings swept No. 4 East Valley 25-17, 25-16, 25-15.

Ellensburg and Selah played an epic five-set match late last month.

Joely Tornow led the Bulldogs (15-2) attack with 11 kills, and Lydia Simmons and Andi Musser added six kills apiece. Aubree Roseberry had 10 digs and 4 assists, while Sarah Stueckle and Ava Stueckle paced the Ellensburg offense with 13 and 11 assists, respectively.

Madilyn Shurtleff had 17 kills and five digs for the Vikings, Kjersten DuBois was 13-for-13 serving and added nine kills and eight digs, and Elia Buehler was 14-for-14 serving with 13 assists and a pair of aces.

The Red Devils started the day by ousting fifth-seeded Othello 25-15, 25-17, 25-23, while the Mustangs, ranked 10th and seeded second, swept No. 6 seed Grandview 25-8, 25-15, 25-16 in a loser-out match.

East Valley (12-7) will visit Prosser (13-5) on Wednesday with the winner advancing to a winner-to-state match against a team from the Northwest district, while the loser’s season will end.

SCAC

Cashmere, Chelan advance to final

CASHMERE – Third-ranked Cashmere swept past College Place and Zillah to reach the district championship Saturday.

The Bulldogs, seeded second in the tournament, will head to Cashmere next Saturday to meet the top-seeded Goats, who have won three straight Class 1A state champions and are again ranked No. 1. Both teams earned state trips Saturday.

Cashmere (19-1) beat seventh-seeded College Place 25-11, 25-9, 25-11 to start the day, and posted a straight-set victory against Zillah in the semifinals, 25-10, 25-15, 25-15.

Chelan (18-0) swept Royal and Omak to reach the final.

Reigning SCAC player of the year Macie Smart led the Bulldogs attack, recording 21 kills and 15 digs between the two matches. The junior eclipsed the 1,000-kill mark earlier this season.

Fellow 11th-grader Taylor Kunz totaled 12 kills and 19 digs, and Cali Diaz – another junior – guided the offense with 49 assists and six aces.

Third-seeded Zillah (12-5) will host No. 8 Royal (9-9) on Wednesday in a loser-out match, while seventh-seeded College Place heads to Omak (18-7) in another elimination match.

The winners of those matches will meet, and then play the top teams from the Northeast A League for state berths.