Blackhawks win pair in volleyball

CHENEY – The high school volleyball program finally earned its first match win since returning to the 3A classification.

The Blackhawks overcame a 25-21 loss in the first game at Lewis and Clark by rallying to win the next three, 25-16, 28-26 and 25-21 to down the Tigers 3-1 last Tuesday, Feb. 23, evening Cheney’s record at 1-1. They then stretched that winning streak to two matches by sweeping visiting 4A Central Valley 3-0 on Feb. 25.

Kiley Power led Cheney with 17 assists against the Tigers in the match between 3A and 4A schools. No individual statistics were available for the Central Valley match at press time.

Cheney is returning three starters from the team that last played in 2019 in the 2A classification Great Northern League — but enjoyed some success in doing so. The Blackhawks last took the competitive court by playing in the state tournament in Yakima, earning the GNL’s No. 2 seed in the process and advancing in the regional round with a 3-1 win over Prosser.

Seniors Avery Stark, Sara Graham and Power lead the Blackhawks in 2021. Stark, a four-year starter and second-team All-GNL last year, sets up at outside hitter with Power — who transferred from Colville — at setter and Graham at setter/libero.

“Being new to the GSL, it will be a learning year,” head coach Heather Zorrozua said. “We have some great kids that will hit the floor and play hard. We don’t know a lot about any of the other teams, so we plan on just being aggressive and playing smart volleyball.”

Cheney’s roster also includes seniors Kayli Lucas, Hope Schneider, Emily Elk and Tomei Vega; juniors Hannah Ayers and Misir Williams, sophomores Ryann Robbins and Navi Islam-Zwart and freshman Joy Assonken. The Blackhawks, 2-1 overall, opened league play Tuesday, March 2, by hosting University High School and travels to Gonzaga Prep to face the Bullpups Thursday, March 4.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].