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YAKIMA — Toledo was just one set win away from a second straight sweep in the 2B State Tournament and its first state volleyball trophy in program history.
Instead, River View sent the Riverhawks home without hardware. The Panthers completed a reverse sweep, knocking out Toledo in five sets in the consolation semifinals Thursday morning 28-26, 25-15, 21-25, 19-25, 10-15.
The Riverhawks came into day two of the tournament as the only one of the four Central 2B League teams with momentum, as they won their second game while the other three lost in the quarterfinals.
Against River View, Toledo battled through a nailbiting first set that saw neither team gain a sizable advantage. From the point the Panthers were a point away from an opening set win, Ellie Fallon took over for the Riverhawks. Her four kills in the final stretch led Toledo to a 28-26 win.
Set two was all Riverhawks in a 25-15 trouncing, and it appeared Toledo was all but guaranteed a trophy. But River View had other ideas, and with their season on the line, the Panthers extended the game first by holding off Toledo 25-21 in the third set and rallying from an early deficit in the fourth to win 25-19.
According to Toledo head coach Kelli Larson, the Riverhawks were doomed after the momentum shifted following the third set and due to a crucial mistake in the fourth.
“We turned in the wrong lineup. We transposed two girls, and so we were all screwed up in the fourth set,” she said. “That messup in the lineup just shook us. We had out-of-rotation calls.”
Facing elimination in the fifth set, a typically aggressive Toledo team struggled out of the gate, quickly falling behind 7-2. The Riverhawks kept the set within striking distance until River View separated itself in the end with strong defense at the net.
“In the fifth set, I felt like we just played it too safe and had some errors,” Larson said. “I reminded them that we have a freshman setter and most of everybody else out there is a sophomore. When you get in those pressure situations, they have less experience to fall back on, and the nerves sometimes jump in there.”
But the young Riverhawks now have deep postseason experience to fall back on heading into next season, where all but senior Emily Feigenbaum will return. Larson wasn’t certain a team this young and inexperienced could punch its ticket to state until the moment they beat Mossyrock in districts, but she knows they’ll be back and better next fall with a roster featuring five All-C2BL selections.
“I hope they know that they deserve to be here and that they can play with any team here,” she said. “If they keep working hard in the offseason, they’re going to do better next year.”
