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YAKIMA — Adna fell in the first round, battled back to win two-straight loser-out matches and is now heading home with the eighth-place trophy at the 2B state volleyball tournament.
The No. 11 Pirates dropped their opener Thursday, but bounced back to beat Warden Thursday night and beat Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna Friday morning to advance to the seventh/eighth-place match with Liberty (Spangle) Friday afternoon.
In their fourth match in two days, the Pirates ran out of steam and fell in four sets to Liberty (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22) to earn their first state trophy since 2014.
“I’m glad we actually get paint on the wall and we bring home hardware,” Adna coach Wendie Dotson said. “We did some good things and I’m just happy the girls made it here.”
It’s an end to an impressive run for the Pirates, who went from being shut down for two weeks at the end of the regular season due to COVID-19 protocol to being the final Central 2B League squad standing — and the only C2BL team to trophy.
Dotson credited her team’s resiliency and determination for pushing through adversity, which she said was a product of their offseason work. It’s what she’ll remember most about this team.
“These girls have worked really hard,” Dotson said. “We got shut down for 10 days and they still battled. It’s a good group that really liked being with each other. They have great attitudes and you can’t ask for a better group of girls.”
Two seniors played their final match for the Pirates: outside hitters Madison Fay and Alyssa Davis.
“They’re great leaders in that they organized a bunch of stuff over the summer,” Dotson said. “Definitely, we’ll miss them. Both of them have been key parts of it. I wish we could have gotten a little bit better for them.
“Maddie has a wonderful hit and Allie did really good,” she added. “They’re definitely going to be key components we miss.”
Adna finishes its season with a 14-6 overall record.