OLYMPIA - The Ephrata volleyball team ended a successful season with a trip to the state 2A tournament last weekend at Evergreen State College.

The Tigers post season play began with a third place finish at district, then a win in the regional tournament against West Valley of Spokane, put the team on the road to the big show.

"There wasn't a lot of expectations from these girls at the beginning of the season," coach Britney Ratigan said. "Nobody thought we were going to get through districts and we proved those people wrong."

The modest goals the team had set for itself at the beginning of the season, Ratigan said, was to work together, train hard to get better each day, and to play with heart.

"And we did exactly that," she said. "We wanted to take down some of the top teams in the CWAC and we swept Ellensburg twice, and beat a top 10 ranked Grandview team, and then knocked out another top 10 team in West Valley of Spokane out of the regional tournament."

The Tigers had momentum on their side as they entered the state tournament and was hoping to bring home some hardware for all the hard work they put in to get there. But unfortunately the team was bounced out of the double-elimination action after suffering back-to-back losses.

Ephrata faced Port Angeles in the first round and battled the Lady Roughriders to four sets before dropping the game by scores of 19-25, 9-25, 25-2 and 18-25.

"The girls weren't ready and were understandably nervous when we stepped out on the court," Ratigan said. ''We eventually found our grove and good things started to happen."

Heidi Buchert led the attack for Ephrata with 19 kills, one ace and three blocks. Kedra De Hoog added 15 kills, one ace and a block, Sarah Pheasant contributed three kills and 35 assists, and libero Tessa Ratigan finished with 21 digs.

"Heidi played solid all around volleyball and has been our consistent unstoppable threat this year," Ratigan said."And Kendra took some great swings and played scrappy defense."

The loss to Port Angeles put the Tigers in the consolation bracket in a loser out game with Sehome, which they lost in three sets by identical scores, 20-25, 20-25, 20-25.

Buchert led the way once again for Ephrata with 11 kills, two aces and a block. DeHoog added nine kills and three blocks, Stephanie Wulf had two kills, and Ratigan finished with 20 assists.

"We finally started playing together as a team against Sehome," Ratigan said. " Heidi, Kendra and Tessa had some great pick-ips that we attacked out of."

Ratigan said Buchert stood out at the net and from the service line.

Heidi had an outstanding attacking and serving game," she said. " She wasn't the "show" hitter, but she found every hole in their defense and made them work to pick up her shots."

Although the Tigers took an earlier than expected exit from the tournament, Ratigan said the season was a great success.

"These girls are the most determined players I have ever had the privilege of coaching," she said. "I may have given them the tools, but they put them into play and because they invested in each other, we had a very successful season. I couldn't imagine having a better first year (as coach) because this is an amazing group of girls who I am unbelievably proud of."