West Valley (Spokane) sweeps Lady Tigers in volleyball, soccer
Ephrata dropped both matches to West Valley (Spokane) on Thursday, losing 5-0 in girls soccer at home and falling in straight sets on the volleyball road trip, though the Lady Tigers steadied in the second half of each.
Updated
The Ephrata girls soccer team lines up for the national anthem before Thursday's season opener against West Valley (Spokane) at the EHS soccer complex. The Lady Tigers are back on the pitch Tuesday, Sept. 8 at Cascade (Leavenworth). Photos by Brylee Buchanan
Volleyball
Ephrata volleyball is 0-2 after falling in straight sets at West Valley (Spokane) on Thursday, following a Tuesday night season-opening loss to Omak on Marty O’Brien Court.
The Tigers lost 25-9, 25-13, 25-16 on the road, but improved their scoring in consecutive sets against a bigger West Valley squad.
For Ephrata, sophomore setter Skyler Wood handed out 32 assists. Junior Clairissa Johnson led the Tiger offense with 12 kills and added two blocks on defense; junior Navi Kaur had seven kills, two blocks and two ace serves; and sophomore Bergen Lauver produced three kills.
First-year head coach McKaidan Boyd spotlighted Kaur's net play.
"I was really proud of Navi and the way she showed up," Boyd said. "West Valley has size, and when I lined her up with their biggest hitter, she executed with multiple blocks and set our defense up well."
Ephrata's season opener at home Tuesday against visiting Omak was closer than the scorebook showed. After dropping the first set 25-14, the Lady Tigers jumped out front 9-3 in the second set and held the lead until Omak rallied late for a 23-22 advantage. The Tigers had six chances at set point, but ultimately lost 31-29. The Lady Pioneers prevailed in the third set, 25-13, to claim the match.
"Tough game, no doubt," Boyd said. "We have a young, talented group of girls seeing the varsity floor for the first time, and mental toughness is our main focus. The six points that slipped away were our own error. Omak is a great team, but we lost that game for ourselves."
Net and rotation violations cost Ephrata points throughout the opener. Boyd said the staff has already gone back to those fundamentals, along with working on serve-receive positioning.
"We worked hard this last practice in going over rotations, and are focused on executing our knowledge on that portion of the game," she said. "Blocking and overall footwork at the net will come with time, as we will get one percent better every day."
Opportunities loom ahead — the Ephrata squad will be busy with three matches in the upcoming holiday-shortened week.
The Tigers travel to Moses Lake on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. contest. They return home to open Central Washington Athletic Conference play against Othello at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by hosting North Central (Spokane) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, both on Marty O'Brien Court.
Girls Soccer
Lady Tigers soccer opened its season Thursday with a 5-0 home loss to defending 2A state champion West Valley of Spokane, which continued its undefeated ways after compiling an impressive 22-0 record last year without surrendering a single goal.
Prior to the match, head coach Gary Klepec pointed to this week's opener as one of the toughest tests on Ephrata's 2026 schedule, and felt his team responded to the challenge.
West Valley led 4-0 at the half, but only scored once more after the break.
"We settled down and played a much better game in the second half," Klepec said.
"We handled the pressure very well and played aggressive and with 100 percent effort from the start to finish, no matter what happened the entire game," continued the Tiger coach, adding, "My girls this season are well-bonded and a very close group, always keeping each other positive and confident."
Ephrata recorded 10 shots on goal and forced seven saves out of a West Valley keeper who did not concede a single score last season.
The Tigers' goalkeeper, junior Aiyana Valle, made nine saves on 20 West Valley attempts.
Klepec highlighted freshmen Ellie Molitor and Shannon Johnson, who saw their first varsity minutes, and sophomore Skarlett Sanchez-Medina for what he called constant aggressive play.
"We were very, very pleased with our younger players and expect to see some great things from them," he said.
The work now, said Klepec, is "connecting as a unit" and creating more scoring chances "up top."
"Last year, there were games that we outplayed opponents but ended up losing due to not being able to finish," he said. "We must work as a unit to give our forwards more opportunities."
Ephrata came out of the match with a worrisome injury. Senior Brooklynn Sieverkropp, a four-year varsity player and a two-time all-CWAC pick, suffered a high ankle sprain and is expected to be sidelined at least a few weeks. She joins junior Paige Murray, one of Ephrata's top scorers last season, on the injured list.
The Ephrata booters also face a three-game week, opening at Cascade (Leavenworth) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Lady Tigers then host Othello at 5 p.m. Thursday in their first Central Washington Athletic Conference match, followed by Cle Elum-Roslyn at 11 a.m. Saturday at the EHS soccer complex.
Note: Photographer Brylee Buchanan is a student intern for GCJ.news.
We use cookies to keep GCJ.news working and, with your consent, to understand how our community uses the site. We use this data only internally to run and improve the site — we never sell your personal information. See our cookie & privacy policies.
West Valley (Spokane) sweeps Lady Tigers in volleyball, soccer
Ephrata dropped both matches to West Valley (Spokane) on Thursday, losing 5-0 in girls soccer at home and falling in straight sets on the volleyball road trip, though the Lady Tigers steadied in the second half of each.
Volleyball
Ephrata volleyball is 0-2 after falling in straight sets at West Valley (Spokane) on Thursday, following a Tuesday night season-opening loss to Omak on Marty O’Brien Court.
The Tigers lost 25-9, 25-13, 25-16 on the road, but improved their scoring in consecutive sets against a bigger West Valley squad.
For Ephrata, sophomore setter Skyler Wood handed out 32 assists. Junior Clairissa Johnson led the Tiger offense with 12 kills and added two blocks on defense; junior Navi Kaur had seven kills, two blocks and two ace serves; and sophomore Bergen Lauver produced three kills.
First-year head coach McKaidan Boyd spotlighted Kaur's net play.
"I was really proud of Navi and the way she showed up," Boyd said. "West Valley has size, and when I lined her up with their biggest hitter, she executed with multiple blocks and set our defense up well."
Ephrata's season opener at home Tuesday against visiting Omak was closer than the scorebook showed. After dropping the first set 25-14, the Lady Tigers jumped out front 9-3 in the second set and held the lead until Omak rallied late for a 23-22 advantage. The Tigers had six chances at set point, but ultimately lost 31-29. The Lady Pioneers prevailed in the third set, 25-13, to claim the match.
"Tough game, no doubt," Boyd said. "We have a young, talented group of girls seeing the varsity floor for the first time, and mental toughness is our main focus. The six points that slipped away were our own error. Omak is a great team, but we lost that game for ourselves."
Net and rotation violations cost Ephrata points throughout the opener. Boyd said the staff has already gone back to those fundamentals, along with working on serve-receive positioning.
"We worked hard this last practice in going over rotations, and are focused on executing our knowledge on that portion of the game," she said. "Blocking and overall footwork at the net will come with time, as we will get one percent better every day."
Opportunities loom ahead — the Ephrata squad will be busy with three matches in the upcoming holiday-shortened week.
The Tigers travel to Moses Lake on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. contest. They return home to open Central Washington Athletic Conference play against Othello at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by hosting North Central (Spokane) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, both on Marty O'Brien Court.
Girls Soccer
Lady Tigers soccer opened its season Thursday with a 5-0 home loss to defending 2A state champion West Valley of Spokane, which continued its undefeated ways after compiling an impressive 22-0 record last year without surrendering a single goal.
Prior to the match, head coach Gary Klepec pointed to this week's opener as one of the toughest tests on Ephrata's 2026 schedule, and felt his team responded to the challenge.
West Valley led 4-0 at the half, but only scored once more after the break.
"We settled down and played a much better game in the second half," Klepec said.
"We handled the pressure very well and played aggressive and with 100 percent effort from the start to finish, no matter what happened the entire game," continued the Tiger coach, adding, "My girls this season are well-bonded and a very close group, always keeping each other positive and confident."
Ephrata recorded 10 shots on goal and forced seven saves out of a West Valley keeper who did not concede a single score last season.
The Tigers' goalkeeper, junior Aiyana Valle, made nine saves on 20 West Valley attempts.
Klepec highlighted freshmen Ellie Molitor and Shannon Johnson, who saw their first varsity minutes, and sophomore Skarlett Sanchez-Medina for what he called constant aggressive play.
"We were very, very pleased with our younger players and expect to see some great things from them," he said.
The work now, said Klepec, is "connecting as a unit" and creating more scoring chances "up top."
"Last year, there were games that we outplayed opponents but ended up losing due to not being able to finish," he said. "We must work as a unit to give our forwards more opportunities."
Ephrata came out of the match with a worrisome injury. Senior Brooklynn Sieverkropp, a four-year varsity player and a two-time all-CWAC pick, suffered a high ankle sprain and is expected to be sidelined at least a few weeks. She joins junior Paige Murray, one of Ephrata's top scorers last season, on the injured list.
The Ephrata booters also face a three-game week, opening at Cascade (Leavenworth) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Lady Tigers then host Othello at 5 p.m. Thursday in their first Central Washington Athletic Conference match, followed by Cle Elum-Roslyn at 11 a.m. Saturday at the EHS soccer complex.
Note: Photographer Brylee Buchanan is a student intern for GCJ.news.