MARYSVILLE It could be said that the Lady Tomahawks volleyball team took the long road to the 4A state tournament.
After losing their first game of the 4A District 1 tournament in the Jim Linden Field House 3-1 to Jackson Thursday, Nov. 2, they defeated Wesco North foes Cascade and Stanwood before knocking off Edmonds-Woodway Saturday, Nov. 4.
M-P lost their previous match Sept. 19 to E-W but with vocal crowd support and the chance to advance to state proved to push the hosts over the top.
The 3-2 victory was the climax to three action-packed games at M-PHS.
Game scores against the Lady Warriors were 25-22, 27-29, 16-25, 25-21 and 15-10.
Senior Ashley Kehler had 15 assists in the winning effort, senior Nancy Couls had 12 kills and junior Jessica Masters contributed 10 kills.
M-P improved to 12-5 on the season. The 4A state tournament is scheduled for Nov. 10-11 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.
Couls was nearly in tears while celebrating on the court with her teammates, friends and family in a festive atmosphere.
This is something Ive always wanted, she said jubilantly. It is definitely what we all wanted. We have great team chemistry and hang out as much off the court as we do at practice. This gives us a good bang to end the season.
Fellow senior Laura Degerness looked like she had just been handed a winning lottery ticket as she shed tears of happiness.
This just feels unreal, she said with a huge smile. This is just unreal. It feels amazing. I am so proud of my teammates. We have come so far. Everybody has wanted this so bad. We practice hard and are drenched in sweat so we can win games like this.
Before advancing to the winner-to-state game M-P had to defeat the Lady Spartans of Stanwood, which appeared more exciting than the 3-1 score may indicate.
Game scores were 25-18, 21-25, 26-24 and 29-27.
The teams battled back and forth and had countless lead changes as their respective cheering sections yelled support.
In the fourth and final game, M-P trailed 22-20 before scoring three points in a row.
The relentless Lady Spartans knotted the score at 24-all and 25-all before M-P finally came out on top.
The Lady Tomahawks were supposed to have the home court advantage Wednesday, Nov. 1, when they faced Jackson High School.
Apparently the visiting Lady Timberwolves didnt get the memo as they defeated M-P in the first round of the 4A District I playoffs at the Jim Linden Field house.
Game scores were 26-24, 25-23, 18-25 and 25-14.
M-P was the No. 2 team in the Wesco North and faced the No. 3 team as the tournament format was designed.
M-P trailed 22-20 before calling a timeout and rallied to knot the score at 24-all, but Jackson pulled away to win the first game by two points.
Senior outside hitter Laura Degerness had a couple of soft touches over the net that left the Jackson defenders puzzled.
The Lady Tomahawks opened the second game with a 4-2 lead, but Jackson rallied to pull within one at 17-16.
With their small, yet vocal fans yelling with every point the Lady Timberwolves seemed to take the wind out of the hosts sails with a 25-23 victory.
Team the red and white clad home team chanted with Marysville-Pilchuck proudly written across their backs.
The third time mustve been a charm as they raced out to a 14-9 lead and withstood a Jackson rally for a 25-18 victory.
Game four seemed to be a momentum switch back to the green, black and white clad Lady Timberwolves as M-P faced a 16-11 deficit.
The Tomahawk crowd came to life with the exciting rallies, but in the end their beloved team fell short 25-14.
Seniors Nancy Couls (12 kills) and Laura Degerness (10 kills) led the Lady Tomahawks statistically on the evening.
After a 45-minute break M-P battled league foe Cascade in a loser-out game and prevailed by sweeping the Lady Bruins 25-14, 25-13 and 25-21.
Couls added 10 kills and classmate Myranda Dudgeon contributed four blocks and a kill in the season-extending victory.