ROYAL CITY – The Royal City Knights earned a solid 3-1 victory on their home court over the Wahluke Warriors. The matchup remained close between the two teams throughout as the South Central Athletic Conference rivals battled it out to stay in the postseason runnings. 

“It was definitely not our best game, we kind of let up a little bit, but I feel like we always came back better,” said Knights senior Madyn Smith.  

Both teams came out strong right out of the game with a back-and-forth battle in the first set, leaving the two teams tied at 24 toward the end. The Knights rallied to come up victorious and ended the set 26-24.  

The Knights carried the momentum from the first set into the second set and pulled ahead to win that 25-19. The Warriors turned the game around in the third set, where they gained the advantage to win 25-18. With the game growing closer, the Knights quickly put it away in the fourth set to win the match 3-1. 

Smith said the team’s overall culture this season has been what has led to their success this season.  

“I feel like we’ve struggled in the past with just having positivity,” she said. “We have just been so good at bonding and we’re always happy ... Just our team bonding is really positive.” 

Knights head coach Lisa Lawrence said the team went into their matchup against Wahluke knowing it was going to be a competitive matchup. She said it was great for the team to battle through the close sets and come out with a victory. 

“We’re just trying to improve every game,” said Lawrence. “We’ve got four more big games, so we’re just taking them one at a time and trying to bring home a W.” 

Warriors head coach Monica Cortez said the team showed great improvement since their last encounter with the Knights. Leading up to this game, the Warriors had been improving their serving and offensive front. 

“This was probably one of our best service games,” said Cortez. “I think we only missed five serves, so it was nice to cut those down and make them have to play against us.” 

She said the Warriors’ success during Tuesday’s matchup was due to their ability to keep up their momentum throughout the game. The team overall had a solid performance and showed vast improvement in both how they’ve developed their volleyball IQ and how they work together as a team. 

“Our big focus this year is working on the growth and getting better every game, every play,” said Cortez. “Last time they swept us, this time, we took a set off of them, so that’s growth for us and that’s what we’re aiming for this season.” 

As the teams head into their final games of the season, both coaches have set their sights on how they want to finish out their seasons. 

The Warriors are focused on building up their young team, which consists of only two seniors this year. Cortez said the team continues to be competitive and battle hard against more experienced teams. 

“We’re just trying to do better than we did last season, better each game than we did the game before, and I think with the group that we have, they’ve really bought into that.” 

Lawrence said the Knights still have a lot to work on as they move into the final games of the season, but overall has seen good hits from the players, and everyone continues to put the work in each day. 

“We have some good competition ahead of us, but I definitely think we’ve improved,” said Smith. “I think we have a good chance at winning some more games.” 

The Knights’ next game will be on the road to face Zillah today at 6:30 p.m. The Warriors will be headed back home to play against College Place today at 6:30 p.m. 

BOX SCORE:  

ROYL: 26-25-18-25: 3
WAHL: 24-19-25-17: 1 

    Senior Kathy Veloz from the Warriors gets ready to receive a serve from the Knights with fellow senior Jacquelyn Lopez standing close by for support. Warriors head coach Monica Cortez said the team is very young this year with only Veloz and Lopez as the seniors, but are improving steadily.
  

    Knights junior Tania Verduzco gets ready to hit the ball back over the net during Tuesday’s game against the Warriors. The Knights are now focused on finishing the season out strong before heading into the postseason.
  

    Warriors freshman player Vianae Sandoval prepares to serve against the Knights. Warriors head coach Monica Cortez said the team put up a strong offensive performance against the Knights and showed great improvement since their last encounter.