YAKIMA — Far too often as the Adna High School volleyball team left the Class 2B state tournament hungry for more.
Plenty of quarterfinal setbacks and overall shortcomings has resulted in just one top-four finish in 10 trips to the Yakima Valley SunDome.
All of that changed on Thursday morning.
Fueled by stellar passing, even when out of system, plus the hitting prowess of Karsyn Freeman and Kendall Humphrey, the top-seeded and unbelmished Pirates will play for their first state title ever after sweeping fith-seeded Coupeville 25-14, 26-24, 25-17.
Adna (21-0) will face second-seeded Manson for all the marbles on Thursday night. It is a rematch from the regular season back in September, a five-set thriller won by the former.
That remains Manson's lone loss to a 2B school. The Pirates jumped out in front 11-4 in the opener, 14-9 in the second and 17-10 in the third. Only the middle set got tight despite them leading for the majority of the game.
Coupeville scrapped its way by erasing two four-point deficits to tie the set at 24-all. The Wolves were called for a double hit, then a kill by Humphrey sealed the set and gave Adna a commanding 2-0 lead.
The championship match between Adna and Manson will start at 5:30 p.m. We'll have full coverage from first to final point.
