YAKIMA — When an unbeaten team goes down for the first time, there are sometimes questions about how they will respond.
The Adna volleyball team erased any doubt about its resiliency on Thursday, bouncing back from its first loss on Wednesday by topping Liberty (Spangle), then sweeping Okanogan 25-22, 26-24, 25-18 to finish in fifth place at the 2B State Tournament in Yakima.
It’s the second straight season the Pirates took home the fifth-place trophy, and their third season placing in a row.
“I’m really proud of how the girls came back,” Adna coach Wendie Dotson said. “It was tough … They came back. It was a slow start in the first set, but they took care of business in the next six.”
The Pirates won the fifth-place match on the same court that they did last fall, though Dotson added they didn’t need to come back from down 2-0 this time around.
The first two sets Thursday afternoon were tight. In the opening set, the Bulldogs got within two late, and in the second, they led the Pirates 24-21. Adna responded by scoring the next five points, stealing the set and going up 2-0.
“We’ve done that a couple of times this year,” Dotson said. “The girls settled in. They really wanted fifth.”
As they have all season, Karsyn Freeman, Danika Hallom and Kendall Humphrey led the offensive attack, combining for 49 kills, while Gaby Guard dished out a team-high 31 assists. Charissa Schierman added 13 assists of her own.
Seemingly every Pirate was also all over the floor defensively, too, as Freeman and Hallom combined for 27 digs, Guard logged 11, Schierman recorded eight, and Humphreay added seven.
Schierman is the group’s lone senior, and Dotson said that she will miss the enthusiasm she brought throughout her years. The Pirates finish the season 21-1.
