High-school sports: West Seattle-Chief Sealth volleyball showdown

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(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
It wasn’t just a crosstown showdown, but also a match between unbeaten-in-conference rivals, when West Seattle High School visited Chief Sealth International HS for varsity volleyball tonight. (In the top photo, Sealth’s Zoe Haywood tapped the ball over West Seattle defenders, from left, Maddie Collins – who had 30 assists for WSHS – Devon Fox, and Eastyn Baleto.) The home crowd was intense…

… but WSHS came away with the win, 3-0; more photos and game info to be added later tonight!

5:26 AM: As promised, more scenes from the game, ahead:

Next, it’s West Seattle’s Baleto, spiking the ball against Sealth’s Nicole Carter, left, and Katherine Kirk, right:

Next, West Seattle’s Ellen Cleveland sends the ball flying pass Sealth’s Sophie Boyd:

Cleveland led WSHS with 16 kills, while Baleto had 15; next, her spike against Sealth’s Nicole Carter, left, and Katherine Kirk, right:

Next, Sealth’s Livvy Boyd, working to block one from West Seattle’s Cleveland:

Sealth’s Maddy Twombley was tied for the team lead with 8 kills – the next photo shows her on the attack with WSHS’s Alexis Ioane going for the block:

Kirk also had 8:

Strategy sessions during the game – Sealth coach Lorna Considine with her team:

West Seattle’s Joe Baleto with his:

And in the stands:

Next up: WSHS hosts Ingraham, 7 pm Wednesday (after JV and C games), while Sealth hosts Cleveland, also at 7 pm Wednesday (preceded by the JV game).

More Monday night game stats, by the way, are here, via our partners at The Seattle Times.

Tim Haywood September 25, 2012 (8:47 am)

I was appalled at the behavior of the West Seattle High School student section at last night’s game.

They appeared to be far more interested in taunting Sealth’s team and fans than supporting their own team; they even had to be reprimanded by Sealth’s coach.

Afterward, WSHS students left a huge mess in their area—plastic bottles, spilled drinks, discarded McDonald’s bags—while the larger Sealth student section was left far cleaner.

In addition, several WS students sped through the CSIHS parking lot, some hanging out of car windows.

WSHS is already experiencing dwindling attendance, while Sealth’s waiting list continues to grow. If WS wants to be known as the school to which no parents want to send their children, then last night’s display should definitely help their cause.

Jen Shaughnessy September 25, 2012 (11:30 am)

Parents, please understand that downing the rival highschool in derogatory comments on the WS blog, is part of the problem. Lets work on a solution together. I challenge parents of WSHS & Chief Sealth to raise the bar on our own blog commenting behavior this year. Lets focus on the positive – we have two awesome local high schools full of teenagers who deserve our full support. I’m pretty sure we all could think of something positive to say about our highschools rather than being appalled at some students who got rambunctious at a game & may need to be reminded of their manners.

WSHS Supporter September 25, 2012 (11:39 am)

@ Tim Haywood. From a WSHS Supporter’s standpoint who was there last night, there were a lot of Sealth kids who sat on our side then walked over.
What I saw last night was high school kids from both schools acting like typical teenagers.
Lets not forget that WSHS supporters who were there last night bought from the consession stand to help support Chief Sealth’s basketball team. If you are upset that WSHS won all three games, we’ll that is clearly your problem. We came to support our kids and won. The activity going on before and after the game were done by both WSHS and Chief Sealth high school students acting like typical teenagers. GREAT WIN WSHS!!!

Observer of the game September 25, 2012 (12:51 pm)

While observing the game last night, both schools exhibited school spirit and may I add some less positive than others. The behavior of the West Seattle crowd could definitely be improved. The overall atmosphere in the West Seattle side was fairly negative while the Sealth side had organized cheers that were positivley supporting their own team. It was a good game played by all.

Community supporter September 25, 2012 (3:22 pm)

Great game last night! It’s wonderful to have such spirit from high school students! I heard equally negative and supportive cheers by both schools. I also have cleaned the bleachers after games, I have yet to find a group of people who leave them clean. It’s great to have a healthy school rivalry, but let’s not get carried away. Each school has so much to offer these kids, many choose to be at west Seattle as well as sealth. Parents please do not lead these students off course. Take the higher ground, the kids learn by example- be good sports! West Seattle is a small community, the kids have friends at both schools and so do the community members that support them. It’s important to be able to lose gracefully in sports, it’s much easier to win. Both volleyball teams did a great job, and seemed to stay composed throughout- great job girls and coaches!! Ok fans lets all try to cheer positively for our teams, and parents please do the same!

westseattledood September 25, 2012 (3:50 pm)

On a more positive note – FANTASTIC photographs Nick Adams!

Lisa Cleveland September 25, 2012 (8:04 pm)

Ya’ll should have been at the WSHS v. Lakeside game a week ago. WSHS was buried alive in school spirit, but it I was there, and it was electric, and crazy – even painful. Our WS girls lost in 5!! It’s gonna all be okay. We lived to tell the story of a great competitive game. Come on…we do need to take the high road. Win big, lose gracefully, and learn the good lessons along the way. Support High School sports.

JJA September 25, 2012 (8:40 pm)

Awesome photos. (A small point, but Maddy is definitely setting, not attacking.) Thanks for the great coverage of a sport that doesn’t usually get much attention!

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