The Bainbridge Spartans volleyball team fought to the finish, losing their opening match but then rattling off three straight wins in the losers’ bracket to place 7th in the 2A state tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome Nov. 14-15.

The No. 8-seeded Spartans fell to the No. 9-seeded West Valley Eagles 3-1 in the first round, which was only Bainbridge’s second loss of the season. They responded by beating No. 16 seed Chief Sealth 3-1, then No. 12 seed Fife 3-0 and finally No. 10 seed Pullman 3-2.

“The girls battled so hard for every point and stayed tough through adversity,” Bainbridge coach Holly Rohrbacher said.

In their opening match, the Spartans kept the first set neck and neck with West Valley at four apiece.

Bainbridge eventually leaped out to a 14-10 lead over the Eagles behind strong serves and rallies from right-side hitter Cate Torrell, designated setter Farrah Colby, and outside hitter Carmen MacCulloch, controlling the net and limiting West Valley rallies. Nonetheless, the Spartans’ lead did not last, with the Eagles going on a scoring run and eventually winning the first set 25-21.

The Spartans jumped out to another early lead in the second set behind Colby’s emphatic serves. However, the Eagles battled back, eventually tying the score at eight apiece after some Spartan defensive miscues. West Valley later went on to take the lead for the first time in the second set at 14-10.

Bainbridge played from behind for a majority of the second set, but went on a scoring run to shrink their deficit to three behind Torrell and middle hitter Julia Seeley. But the Spartans lost the second set 25-21 as well.

Continuing the theme, the Spartans had another early lead in the third set. But this time, Bainbridge managed to hold on to their lead for a majority of the set with outside hitter Elsa Wetzler and Torrell blocking West Valley rallies and controlling the overall tempo of the set. The Spartans held on to a 20-18 lead and were doing a better job of stymying West Valley attacks, leading to a third-set win 25-22.

The fourth set proved to be tightly contested in the beginning, with West Valley and Bainbridge tied up at five apiece. The Spartans eventually bounced out to a 10-6 lead over the Eagles.

Bainbridge maintained their lead once again with Colby and company landing emphatic serves and put-backs, but West Valley managed to close in on the Spartans and shrink the deficit to one at 19-18. The Eagles eventually took the lead at 24-22 and eventually won the match.

“Every player was impactful,” Rohrbacher said. “It was a true team effort.”