Meridian volleyball has continued its reign over other Whatcom County teams through the season’s first two weeks, while Sehome boys tennis holds a slight edge over Bellingham.
Ferndale girls soccer has separated itself from the pack through four games, and the Golden Eagles are searching for their first 3A state tournament berth since 2021.
Western Washington University men’s soccer earned back-to-back wins as women’s golf got underway this past week.
For everything prep football-related, see this week’s football forecast.
Here’s everything else you may have missed from the last week in fall sports.
Prep
Volleyball
Meridian’s Emry Claeys spikes the ball Oct. 12, 2022 during a match against Lynden. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Meridian is the only undefeated team remaining in Whatcom County, currently with a 6-0 overall record (4-0 Northwest Conference). The Trojans most recently swept Granite Falls on Friday, Sept. 15 and beat Lynden Christian in four sets (25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15) on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
Senior outside hitter Emry Claeys led Meridian with 20 kills, 10 digs and three aces, while freshman outside hitter Eden Bernardy totaled 15 kills, 16 digs and eight aces. Junior libero Rylan Bernardy had a team-high 19 digs and sophomore setter Grace Wells tallied 42 assists. The Trojans have won 18 of 23 sets they’ve played.
Lynden (5-1, 4-0 NWC) lost its first match of the season on Saturday, Sept. 16 in a non-league contest against Class 4A Curtis. The three sets the Lions surrendered were their first of the season, but they have since gone on to beat Lake Stevens, 3-1, on Monday, Sept. 18, and Blaine, 3-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
Sehome and Bellingham are each 3-1 on the season, and the former has won three consecutive matches. The Bayhawks have won two in a row following a sweeping loss to Burlington-Edison on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
LC, which began its season 3-0, has dropped two straight matches — including the Sept. 19 loss to Meridian.
Girls soccer
Bellingham’s Katie Knies, center, keeps her eye on the ball against two Ferndale defenders Oct. 6, 2022, during a game against the Golden Eagles. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Ferndale is off to a blazing fast start, now 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in NWC matches. The Golden Eagles have outscored opponents 12-1, most recently defeating Oak Harbor, 2-1, on Monday, Sept. 18.
Lynden (3-1-1) will have its hands full when the Lions host Ferndale at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 21 at Bender Fields.
Bellingham, Lynden and Sehome all have three wins, as do Skagit County teams Anacortes, Burlington-Edison, and Sedro-Woolley. The middle of the 2A/3A NWC standings is a log jam at the moment, with no clear favorite beyond Ferndale.
The annual Lynden-LC rivalry on Thursday, Sept. 14 ended in a 5-0 win for the Lions, as LC now drops to 0-6 on the season. Lynden has now won the matchup the last five times the two teams have played dating back to Sept. 25, 2018.
Meridian leads all Whatcom County schools in Class 1A, splitting their four matches so far, while Nooksack Valley, Mount Baker and LC are all without a win. Blaine is 1-1-1 after beating Lakewood 1-0 on Monday, Sept. 18.
Cross country
Sehome junior Carter McGaffic runs through Hovander Homestead Park on his way to a third-place finish with a time of 16:43. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
Ferndale hosted Sehome and Anacortes in a tri-meet on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at Hovander Homestead Park, but the Golden Eagles finished third in both the boys and girls team scores. Sehome’s girls team finished first, while the boys took second. Anacortes’ boys group claimed the top spot while its girls team finished second.
Anacortes also swept the first- and second-place finishes in both 5,000-meter races. Sehome junior Carter McGaffic finished third in the boys event with a time of 16:43, and Mariners freshman Lil Desler (19:29) took third in the girls.
Senior Kyler Woodrich led Ferndale’s boys group with a 17th-place finish (17:59) while junior Katie Manly took 10th in the girls event (20:05).
Boys tennis
Sehome and Anacortes continue to duel for the conference lead, as both remain undefeated.
Anacortes is 6-0 overall, winning 35 of 42 possible courts to begin the season. Sehome is 5-0 and has a 27-8 court record. Bellingham (4-1, 29-6) is a close third, as the Bayhawks’ only match loss so far was a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Anacortes on Thursday, Sept. 14.
Recently, on Sept. 18, Sehome beat Burlington-Edison 5-2, Bellingham swept Lakewood and Lynden suffered a sweeping loss to Anacortes. Lynden (0-5, 12-23) and Ferndale (0-4, 7-21) are yet to win a match.
WWU
Women’s golf
Western women’s golf finished its first tournament of the 2023–24 season in sixth place among 11 teams at the Saint Martin’s Fall Invitational Sept. 18–19. The Vikings totaled a team score of 43-over-par 619 for the tournament.
Sophomore Lauren Lee led the Vikings, tying for seventh out of 60 players with a 5-over-par 149. Fellow sophomores Emma Worgum and Kasey Maralack also put together a solid outing. Worgum finished tied for 14th with a 7-over-par 151, and Maralack tied for 22nd with her 10-over-par 154.
Western will play its only home tournament of the season at the WWU Invitational on Monday, Oct. 9 at Bellingham Golf and Country Club.
Men’s soccer
Western Washington University men’s soccer forward Andrew Rotter leaps over a Simon Fraser defender Oct. 20, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Rowan Forsythe/WWU Athletics)
The Vikings are winners of two in a row, beating the Colorado School of Mines 3-0 on Thursday, Sept. 14 and then, once again, shutting out Regis University 2-0 on Saturday, Sept. 16.
Western (3-2-1) is led by sophomore forward Albin Jonsson’s five goals on the season, followed by two from junior forward Andrew Rotter.
After an 11-day break, Western will host Saint Martin’s at Harrington Field for its Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule opener at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28.
Girls soccer standings — Sept. 21
| Girls soccer | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L-T | W-L-T |
| Ferndale | 2-0-0 | 4-0-0 |
| Oak Harbor | 1-1-0 | 3-1-0 |
| Lakewood | 1-0-0 | 2-2-0 |
| Mount Vernon | 1-2-0 | 1-4-0 |
| Sehome | 0-0-0 | 3-0-2 |
| Bellingham | 0-0-0 | 3-1-1 |
| Lynden | 0-0-0 | 3-1-1 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-0-0 | 3-1-1 |
| Burlington-Edison | 0-0-0 | 3-2-0 |
| Anacortes | 0-0-0 | 3-2-0 |
| Meridian | 0-0-0 | 2-2-0 |
| Blaine | 0-0-0 | 1-1-1 |
| Nooksack Valley | 0-0-0 | 0-4-0 |
| Lynden Christian | 0-0-0 | 0-6-0 |
| Mount Baker | 0-1-0 | 0-2-0 |
| Squalicum | 0-1-0 | 0-5-0 |
Volleyball standings — Sept. 21
| Volleyball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Meridian | 4-0 | 6-0 |
| Burlington-Edison | 4-0 | 6-0 |
| Lynden | 4-0 | 5-1 |
| Anacortes | 4-1 | 5-1 |
| Sehome | 4-1 | 4-1 |
| Bellingham | 3-2 | 3-2 |
| Lynden Christian | 2-2 | 3-2 |
| Lakewood | 2-2 | 3-3 |
| Nooksack Valley | 2-2 | 2-2 |
| Oak Harbor | 2-3 | 2-3 |
| Ferndale | 2-3 | 2-3 |
| Squalicum | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Mount Vernon | 1-4 | 1-5 |
| Blaine | 0-4 | 0-4 |
| Mount Baker | 0-4 | 0-6 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-5 | 0-5 |
This story was updated at 10:21 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 21 to include cross country results from Wednesday, Sept. 20. Standings were also updated to include game outcomes from Sept. 20.
