Soccer continues its journey to state

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, November 19, 2025

by Declan O’Malley

Contributor

At the end of the fall season, two Orcas Island High School teams advanced to the state tournament, with the boys’ soccer and volleyball teams both earning their spots.

Soccer

The defending state champions and No. 1-ranked Vikings cruised through the regional round with a 5–0 win over No. 5 Upper Columbia Academy of Spokane/Spangle.

“This was a big match for us coming into the state quarterfinals. It was loser-out. This was also the team that beat us in the state finals two years ago,” head coach Terry Turner said.

Turner added that before the match, assistant coach Sid Hayworth told the team he believed they were the best group in the field and encouraged them to “play with the freedom to be the players they are.”

According to Turner, the first half was tense. “They had a ton of motivation and spirit and had the momentum at times,” he said.

Turner said he was pleased with the balanced scoring effort.

“At the end of the match, we had scores from five different players, including two freshmen,” Turner said.

Anthony Conejo Medina, Amaru Amaru Shanks Morales, Jack Marl, Ziah Nash Watson and Angelo Vaccarella all scored for OIHS.

Orcas Island will face Evergreen Lutheran after the Eagles defeated Friday Harbor 3–0. The quarterfinal match is scheduled for Nov. 21.

Volleyball

After narrowly missing the state tournament last season, Vikings volleyball punched its ticket to the Yakima SunDome with a strong district performance.

In their first-round matchup, the Vikings fell to No. 1-ranked Rainier 3–1 with set scores of 25–23 (OIHS), 25–19 (Rainier), 25–17 (Rainier) and 25–13 (Rainier).

“I think we were all a little nervous to be playing the No. 1 seed right out of the gate, but you wouldn’t have known that when the girls stepped onto the court. That first set was electric — they played some of the best volleyball I’ve seen all year,” assistant coach Nikki Hawley said. “Ultimately, we allowed too many mistakes on our side in the subsequent sets, but still managed to keep it close, and I think we had them scared.”

Hawley also praised the character of the OIHS players.

“It was nice to have almost every single official come up to the coaches and girls after that game to tell them how great they played and how impressed they were,” she said.

In their next match, OIHS fell 3–0 to Tri-Cities Prep to end their season.

“The next game had us up against a team that ran an offense we had never seen before — really fast play, multiple threats, designed plays. We went up quickly in the first set, but watched a 10-point lead evaporate when they finally got their offense going,” Hawley said.

Hawley emphasized the long-term value of the team’s state experience.

“I’m so incredibly proud of how the team played and carried themselves at state. It can be an overwhelming experience to play at that level, and they handled it like pros. I’m hoping this lights a fire in the younger girls and they come back next season ready to put in the work to get back there and win some games,” she said.