MATTAWA – Visiting Royal won a South Central A Conference East volleyball match against Wahluke here last week in the first of two showdowns between the Basin rivals.

But the win didn’t come easy. Wahluke started hot and won the first game, 25-18. Then Royal swept three, 25-11, 25-11, 25-11.

“First game nerves,” Royal coach Paul Olsufka said. “Once the girls settled down, they played their game and took charge.”

It was the best hitting match of the year for the Knights. Lindsey Small and McDarra VonStein had six kills each and Ashley Valle and Lizzi Miller had five each.

Valle went 16-18 serving with five aces, and Taylor Freeman served three aces. Small served four aces and executed one block.

Miller served one ace, Jacie Phillips served two, and Alyx Zeigler served five aces on 16-17 serving and produced 20 assists. VonStein had one ace and one block, and Savanna Buster had two aces and one kill.

In another league match last week, the Knights lost to Kiona-Benton, 21-25, 15-25, 1-25, but Olsufka was pleased with the effort early on.

“Played the best game of the year to start off the match, just not able to keep that emotional high going the rest of the night,” he said.

“The first game was enjoyable to watch, the girls left everything on the court,” he added

But you have to win three out of five games to come away with a match victory. Ki-Be is very good.

On the weekend, Royal participated in the Burbank Tournament. The Knights lost to Sunnyside Christian, beat Wapato, lost to River View then lost a rematch with Wapato

“Girls played well and got a feel for the tournament atmosphere,” Olsufka said.

Royal will host a tournament this weekend. The invited teams are Toppenish, Othello and Soap Lake. The matches will start at 10 a.m.

“So come out and watch some volleyball,” Olsufka said.