KITTITAS - The Warden Cougars strolled in to Kittitas looking to get a win and move into a tie for the top spot with the Coyotes, but were turned back in three sets, (22-25, 14-25, 23-25).

"We had a disappointing match," coach Dennis Treat said. "A winwould have putus into a tie for first place, but the loss sends us to third."

Having lost the match, the team now finds itself trailing Kittitas by two games, and second place Riverside by one with two games left in the regular season. But Warden still has a chance to finish as co-champions of the league if the Cougars wins out and Kittitas and Riverside lose the last two games.

Twenty one hitting errors and eight miss serves were the leading factors in the loss against the Coyotes.

"It's very difficult to win a volleyball match when making so many unforced mistakes," Treat said. "Kittitas played well and they played smart. While we can say we did not play our best, we also have to take our hat off to the Coyotes for playing good volleyball."

Iris Rodriguez had nine kills and 17 digs in the losing effort for the Cougars. Keisha Urwin added six kills, eight digs and one block.

Hannah Bisnett contributed four kills and eight blocks. Abby Richins was nine of nine serving with two aces, four blocks and two digs, and libero Bianca Hernandez had 16 digs.

The loss drops Warden to 7-3 in the NCW 2B standings. The Cougars are back in action next Tuesday as they host the Soap Lake Eagles. The match is set for 5 p.m.