YAKIMA – It wasn’t the fairytale finish they dared to envision.
But the Kelso Hilanders still felt like winners walking out of the Class 3A state volleyball tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome Saturday, despite losing in the semifinals to top-ranked Mount Spokane and finishing third.
“We came out and fought, and I’m so proud of that,” coach Michelle Mury said.
And extra-proud after the Hilanders (25-7) repeatedly fought back in their final match of the tournament against No. 6 Roosevelt of Seattle. They were down 2-1 and wound up winning 19-17 in the fifth.
“We battled,” she said.
Kelso had been the Cinderella team of the tournament after the 2-0 start on Friday, knocking off No. 3 Eastside Catholic of Sammamish and No. 8 Snohomish. Mury, in her first year back as head coach after a five-year stint in the 1990s, said the run to the semifinals “by far” exceeded her expectations.
But that didn’t mean she and her team didn’t want more.
And they played like it against Mount Spokane, never letting the Wildcats really get comfortable, particularly in the first and third sets.
“We made them have to make adjustments,” Mury said.
In the end, the Wildcats were too much — 25-23, 25-17, 25-22.
Then came Roosevelt, which had lost 3-1 to Capital of Olympia in the other semifinal.
The Hilanders were already assured of their best-ever finish with the two opening wins. Their only other trophy, for eighth place, came back in 2000.
As far as Mury is concerned, there were no losses for the Hilanders Saturday. Only learning experiences.
“I don’t really look at wins and losses,” she said. “Losses are lessons. It was just really exciting to be here and soak it all up. I feel like we raised our level of play to that of our competition.”
And with just one senior starter, Allie Gaston, don’t be surprised to see Kelso back next season.
