YAKIMA — The Moses Lake Christian Academy Lions battled their way through districts and made their way into the WIAA State Volleyball tournament for the first time since the 2022 season. The Lions faced a tough Garfield-Palouse Vikings team in the first round where they fell in a close three sets. 

"We played well," said Lions Head Coach Dean Spurbeck. "(Garfield-Palouse) just hit the ball well and we're not really used to playing that kind of volleyball, but we were in the right spots, so I was very pleased with what they did. That's a good team." 

The Lions started out their state run a little slower than they would've liked, which led to the Vikings making a dominant scoring run in the first set. By the end of the set, Garfield Palouse had gained significant traction for a 25-12 victory. 

MLCA turned things around in the second set, where they began to execute and take advantage of openings on Gar-Pal's side of the court. The Lions found themselves in the lead for much of the game, although it remained very close.  

The early parts of the second set saw the Lions controlling play with excellent serving, but soon the Vikings began to close in. Toward the end of the game, MLCA had gained a 23-20 lead over Gar-Pal, but the opposition found momentum to tie the game at 24-24. 

Both teams had multiple opportunities to close out the game as they went into the two-point tie breaker, but neither side was willing to give. By the end of the set, Gar-Pal had found what they needed to claim victory at 29-27. 

In the third set, Garfield-Palouse got a slight lead over the Lions 3-0, but MLCA quickly rebounded to stop the Vikings from extending that lead. Doing this allowed the Lions to dig deep to tie the game up at 10-10 and eventually claim the lead themselves.  

The Vikings weren't down for long as they quickly cut back into the lead to eventually get themselves back on top. MLCA always kept the game within a few points, but Garfield-Palouse spent the last bit of the set just ahead and closed out the game on a 25-19 third set victory. 

"We dug the ball well and we blocked well," said Spurbeck. "When you've got big hitting teams, that's what you've got to do and that's what we did." 

The coach said he was very proud of how the Lions responded to a tough team like Garfield-Palouse and that MLCA gave them a solid game in the state tourney. 

The Lions had a long road to the state tournament after a tough start to the season where they sat 3-6 at the beginning of October. The girls began to adjust and earned wins over Soap Lake and Pateros, which was enough to secure the sixth seed in districts. 

From there, the Lions broke through and battled their way through the bracket to consistently beat higher seeds, with their only loss coming up against Entiat, who became the district champs. MLCA secured their ticket to state with a 3-1 victory against the first seeded Pateros. 

Though it was disappointing for the Lions to fall in the first round of state, Spurbeck said the hard work that it took to get to that point is an achievement in itself. 

"They just kept going, they kept learning and they didn't stop learning," said the coach. "It doesn't matter how you start at the beginning, it's all what happens at the end, and they bought into that and they did that. They could've just rolled the whole season and they didn't, they wanted to keep getting better." 

The Lions will be losing two seniors in the offseason, Taylor Starnes and Abby Stanley, who were strong leaders for the team throughout this season. Both girls stepped up during important games throughout the season, including Wednesday's game against Gar-Pal, both on and off the court. 

"They were encouraging the rest of the team to keep stepping it up and keep doing their thing," said Spurbeck. 

Even with Starnes and Stanley graduating this offseason, the legacy of what they helped build is lighting a fire for next season. Three juniors and a large group of sophomores, freshmen and eighth graders will be returning to the squad, now with state experience.  

Spurbeck said the Lions making state this year was a very important step for the program. Playing in the state environment can be tough for a first time player and now that each of the younger players has had experience, they will be more prepared to earn victories in the future. 

"This is just the beginning of it," he said. "Once you start going to state, then you keep going to state and from the younger ones, part of the reason why they're here is to see this and want this." 

When looking back on this season, though it ended on a loss, the coach feels the girls found success for their future. 

"I was proud of them," said Spurbeck. "They learned a lot. There's something to build on and keep building on that. Where they stopped at the end of this season, you can start the beginning of the next season there and that's huge." 

BOX SCORE 

MLCA: 12-27-19: 0 

GRPL: 25-29-25: 3

    Lions senior Taylor Starnes steps up to serve in the first round of the state tournament Wednesday.
  

    MLCA senior Abby Stanley (14) and her teammate sophomore Zoey Ferguson (4) stand ready near the net for the upcoming serve during the state tournament.
  

    Vesta Koethke, a junior for the Lions, responds to the incoming serve from Garfield-Palouse in the state tournament Wednesday morning.
  

    MLCA eighth grader Miriam Bishop stands with her sportsmanship medal after the game with her coaches Dean and Jonda Spurbeck watching proudly in the background.
  

    Clarissa Shopbell, a freshman for the Lions, waits for the oncoming serve from Garfield-Palouse.