 sister (right).jpeg)
 sister (right).jpeg)
Ziah Sneva remembers all the long drives to Pullman.
The Peninsula Seahawk 6-foot 2-inch senior middle blocker and outside hitter has been going to Washington State Cougars football and volleyball games since she was in fifth grade. She used to stay in the dorms on campus during sports camps for nearly as many years. Her dad, Josh, went to WSU for a time, and a handful of other family members are alumni. So, for her, crimson and gray have always seemed like a natural color combination.
“My family doesn’t even let me wear purple,” said Sneva, referring to the University of Washington’s primary color, though her mom, Lenora, earned a pair of degrees from the school.
In June, after years of dreaming about it, Sneva signed a letter of intent to play Division I volleyball with the Cougars, beginning in 2025.
“It was sort of an out-of-reach dream (to play volleyball at WSU),” she said. “It didn’t feel like a real possibility until my sophomore year.”
That’s when the Snevas uprooted from the Olympia area where then-freshman Ziah and her older sister, Laney, were playing for volleyball powerhouse North Thurston. Josh landed a head wrestling coach job at White River High School in Buckley, and though it would be an 80-mile round-trip commute, the family settled in the north Gig Harbor area. Laney played her senior year with the Seahawks and is now a sophomore outside hitter at Marist College, a Division I school in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Laney and Ziah are just two examples of the output Seahawks coach Katrina Cardinal’s volleyball factory has produced recently.
Another pair of sisters are also having success on the volleyball court: Maeve Griffin played for Washington recently and Langley is a beach volleyball player for the University of Utah. Lauren Wittmers, Tommi Gallucci, and Olivia Beal earned spots on the Bellevue College team, and Josie Hampton is with Ithaca College in New York.
“We’re fortunate to have players with that drive to be great, putting in the hard work and commitment necessary to succeed,” said Cardinal, who is starting her 16th season as head coach with the Seahawks. “We’re incredibly proud to have this many talented players walk our halls and enter our gym.”
Sneva helped lead the Seahawks to a league and district championship, and a fifth place finish in the 3A state tournament her sophomore year. Last year the team finished 22-11-1 overall (9-5 in the South Sound Conference) and made it to the Sweet 16 in the state tournament as a 19-seed before losing to Liberty. It was the fourth straight year Peninsula earned a shot at a state title.
The Cougars-bound star enters her senior season with 461 kills, averaging 2.5 kills per set in her two years as a Seahawk, while posting a .269 hitting percentage and a 44.5 kill percentage. She recorded 340 of those kills last season. She also shines on defense, racking up 105 blocks and 144 digs. She tallied another 48 kills and 27 blocks her freshman year with North Thurston.
She was honorable mention All-South Sound Conference as a freshman at North Thurston, second team All-SSC as a sophomore at PHS and first team as a junior. If that upward trend continues that means she could be vying for the new Puget Sound League’s first-ever player of the year honors.
“She is an exceptional player,” Cardinal said. “She has power, speed, and an undeniable court presence.”
WSU has a recent history of developing elite middle blockers, and Sneva certainly has the frame to meet that standard, but she has her work cut out for her. Division I volleyball is dominated by equally-sized and equally-capable hitters and blockers. If she was on the Cougars roster this season, she would only be the third-tallest player on the team. The Cougars are coming off a successful season that saw them get bounced by Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championships.
“(The WSU coaches) know what they’re doing,” Sneva said. “They made it very clear that across the athletic department they’re working hard to stay on top.”
With the recruiting process behind her, Sneva can now focus on making the improvements needed to prepare for the next level. She wants to work on her on-court leadership skills and Cardinal is pushing her to improve her jump serves, which gives a server more power. Sneva also spends the better part of the year playing club volleyball and will continue to do so after the high school season ends in November.
Cardinal is also excited to watch Sneva play without recruitment pressure. “When Ziah plays with freedom, she dominates. It’s so fun to witness.”
The longtime Seahawks coach also highlighted seniors Sarah Hurn, Georgia Buckland and Julia Epstein, and juniors Emma Young and her daughter, Kate Cardinal, as players to watch this season. Sophomore Leah Schmidt will continue to see her playing time increase, especially with it being Sneva’s last season.
The Seahawks have a trio of home games in September. They open the season and conference play Sept. 10 at home against Timberline. They also play new conference foes Lakes on Sept. 17 and Silas on Sept. 26. Cardinal described the newly formed Puget Sound League as one of the most competitive in the state. Peninsula’s lone match against Gig Harbor will be at the PHS gym this year Oct. 10.
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