The White River High volleyball team won three of five matches at the Class 3A state tournament and brought home eighth-place honors.
The state festivities played out Nov. 21-22 and had 20 teams competing at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The Yakima trip put an emphatic exclamation point on a great season of volleyball, all turned in by a roster heavy on the junior class.
The Hornets went a perfect 16-0 in North Puget Sound League 3A competition and advanced out of district play before trekking east of the Cascades.
Here’s a quick look (in order) at how the 3A state tourney treated the Buckley squad.
Match 1: White River kicked off the tournament with an early-morning match, taking on University High at 8 a.m. Friday.
The opening-round contest went the way of the No. 13-seeded Hornets who won in three straight sets. The first set went 25-15 but it wasn’t always that easy. The No. 20 Titans, who hail from Spokane Valley, made a run in the second set and deadlocked the score at 22-22 before the Hornets closed out the set with three final points. The final set showed White River to be the better team as the Hornets won 25-11 to end the match.
The loser-out contest sent the Titans home.
Match 2: Advancing from the initial field of 20 teams, White River waded into the Sweet 16 paired against No. 4 seeded Prairie High.
The Hornets made things plenty tough on the Vancouver-area squad but eventually fell in four sets. Prairie began strong, winning the first set 25-11 but White River quickly responded. The second set went to 28-26 with Prairie coming out on top, but the Hornets captured set No. 3 by a 25-22 score.
Things ended for the Buckley squad in the fourth set when Prairie battled for a hard-earned victory. White River led much of the way and had late leads of 20-17 and 23-19 before Prairie rattled off the final six points to close out the match.
Match 3: The Hornets finished a busy first day of tournament action by taking on Everett High in a loser-goes-home contest.
The Hornets were more than up to the task, defeating Everett 25-14, 25-22, 25-19. That victory sent White River into Saturday’s rounds where only a dozen teams were still active.
Match 4: White River opened Saturday play by facing Seattle Prep, seeded No. 8 into the tourney. The Hornets ignored the fact that they were the lower-seeded squad, winning in three straight sets (25-16, 25-21, 25-20).
The victory assured the Hornets of playing in the trophy round.
Match 5: Paired against Timberline High the Hornets battled to determine which team landed in seventh place and which would claim No. 8 honors.
After dropping the first set 25-22, White River responded with a 25-21 victory to knot the contest at one set each. Timberline, playing above its No. 15 seed, finished things with 25-15 and 25-19 victories.
