State champs! No. 1 North Thurston volleyball claims first 3A title in program history

Nighttime stops at the local Miner’s Drive-In Restaurant in Yakima have become an annual tradition for North Thurston’s volleyball team. Saturday night was the first time the Rams brought the first-place trophy with them.

Jackie Meyer’s program is no stranger to spending November east of the Cascades. Year after year, the Rams are a state-tournament regular at the Yakima Valley SunDome, a perennial 3A contender. Their season ended in heartbreak last fall, a five-set loss to Ridgeline in the championship match — but 2025 will be remembered as the year North Thurston put the pieces together.

With a chance for redemption, senior outside hitter Addy Conner led the charge and No. 1 North Thurston swept No. 2 Mount Spokane in three sets to claim Saturday’s 3A volleyball title in Yakima. The South Sound’s leader in kills delivered when it mattered most, piling a team-high 83 kills in four tournament wins that helped claim the school’s first state title in any girls sport.

“This season was all about getting back there,” Meyer said, “and being very disciplined. It was everything wrapped up in one.

“It was just very exciting to have a different type of crying and emotion on the other side of that.”

North Thurston’s state champions will be honored at an afternoon assembly on Monday. Maybe that’s when it’ll finally sink in.

“Even the girls on the bus were like, ‘I don’t think it’s soaked in yet,’” Meyer said. “I said, ‘Well, it’ll soak in tomorrow afternoon when 1,500 students (are) cheering for you and celebrating that.”

Senior setter Sammi Humphrey piled a team-high 122 assists in four state-tournament matches. Senior libero Anna Sheeran added 72 total digs and “off-the-chain” serving in crucial moments of Saturday’s championship.

“Three years of going to state together gives them a lot of experience,” Meyer said. “I think a lot of those state jitters weren’t really there this year. It was like, ‘Let’s go in and let’s take care of business.’ There was a lot more confidence this year.

“Even when we won the league and district titles, there wasn’t as much enthusiasm as we had last year, because I feel like that was not the goal this year. The goal was to get to that state championship game and bring that trophy home.”