YAKIMA – The confetti shower meant championship season had arrived yet again for Columbia River volleyball.
But what has recently become an annual rite of passage never felt more improbable than Saturday at the Class 2A state tournament.
There was Columbia River, one point away from seeing its three-year state championship reign end.
If any team was worthy of dethroning the Rapids, it was this Ellensburg squad that had blitzed through the tournament without dropping a set after entering as the No. 1 seed.
And here were the Bulldogs, one point from their first state title since 1988, ahead 24-23 in the fourth set of the championship match.
But that’s when Columbia River showed not just the heart of a champion, but the poise befitting the now four-time repeat queens of Class 2A volleyball. The Rapids rallied to win the fourth set 26-24.
Then senior captain Sydney Dreves, now a four-time state champion, and upstart sophomore Sophia Gourley took over. The pair combined for seven kills and two aces as the Rapids won the fifth-set tiebreaker 15-8.
Now Columbia River is in rare company in state volleyball history. Only Mead’s streak of five consecutive titles from 2003 through 2007 is longer among schools Class 2A or larger.
Dreves struggled through multiple mishits during the second and third sets, which Ellensburg won 25-23 and 25-13 after River won the opener 25-19.
She flipped a switch in the fourth and fifth sets.
“I really wanted to make River history,” Dreves said. “A four-peat is not very common. I switched the mindset to ‘why not.’ Why not go out and hit as hard as I can. I’m never going to wear the Columbia River jersey again so there’s no need to have any regrets.”
Dreves earned her first three titles with older sister Lauren Dreves, who is now playing as true freshman for Auburn.
“She called me before the game and I’m sure she’s calling me now,” Dreves said of her older sister. “She just told me to go all out. Last year, that senior class really went out with a bang. She told me, go do it again. Go do your thing.”
Columbia River was on its heels after the third set, when the Rapids looked out of sync. The huddle before the fourth set was time to recalibrate.
“I’ve seen them battle and fight,” Rapids coach Breanne Smedley said. “We reminded each other of that. We’ve been down worse than this before. We can come back from this. Of course that’s going through everyone’s mind, is this it? But they rose to the occasion and battled.”
