ROYAL CITY — Royal is right there, on the cusp of being a contender in SCAC East girls volleyball, but the Knights don’t have the record to prove it

The Knights dropped their third straight one-goal match at Kiona-Benton on Thursday, 3-2, to fall to 0-2 in the conference race.

They had fallen to Mabton, 3-2 in a non-league match the previous week and 1-0 in a conference contest to Wahluke two days before taking on Ki-Be.

“Hopefully we can turn the corner,” coach Jens Jensen said.

Royal’s first chance to right the ship will come tonight at 6 p.m when the Granger comes visiting. The Spartans dropped a league outing to Wahluke, 2-0, last Thursday.

This Thursday, the Knights will be in tough at Connell. The Eagles are the favorites to win the SCAC East. A Warrior win would turn the league upside down.

Once again, against Ki-Be, the Knights had a strong offense in the field, but they struggled when they neared the goal. If they can convert more of their shots to goals, they could sweep the week.

“We are playing better, passing the ball, and we are sorting out how to attack a bit more.,” Jensen said. “All games, we are in and battling but continue to lose by a goal.”

Ki-Be is another of the favorites in the SCAC East this year. Royal disregarded that and went right after the Bears with a goal from Yajaira Michel that put the Knights on top, 1-0.

The Bears came back to score three goals and take a 3-1 lead, but Royal didn’t give up. Zayda Romero scored on a Jenny Ledezma assist to make it 3-2, and the Knights kept coming.

“We threw everything at them to get back to level, but Ki-Be held up,” Jensen said.