The Grant Union Lady Prospector volleyball team faced off with eight of the state’s top 2A volleyball squads at Ridgeview High School in Redmond, going 2-1 and coming away with a fourth-place finish in the state tournament.

The Lady Pros kicked off the two-day tournament against eventual state runner-up Salem Academy on Friday, Nov. 3, falling 3-0 in straight sets. Game scores for the match were 25-13, 25-15 and 25-15.

The opening loss put the Lady Pros into the consolation bracket and left them unable to finish any better than fourth place.

The Lady Pros began their march through the bracket with a match against Santiam Jr./Sr. High School the following day. The Lady Pros would go up two sets to none to start the match before Santiam won the third set to stave off elimination, leaving the Lady Pros with a 2-1 advantage.

Grant Union wasn’t interested in a Santiam comeback, however, winning the fourth game handily to take the match 3-1. Game scores for the match were 25-19, 25-14, 17-25 and 25-9.

The win put the Lady Pros into the consolation finals against the Lady Devils of Lowell that evening, with the winner taking fourth place and the loser being relegated to a sixth-place finish.

Much like the match against Santiam earlier in the day, the Lady Pros jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Lowell would respond and avoid a sweep, winning the third set with an identical 17-25 score.

Unlike the fourth set against Santiam, the battle with Lowell was a dogfight.

Lowell would initially take momentum in the set, scoring first and taking an early 7-2 lead over Grant Union. The Lady Pros would regroup, however, slowly eating away at the Lowell lead to find themselves within two at 10-8.

The Lady Devils stubbornly clung to their slim lead, edging out to a 14-11 advantage. The two teams would play evenly over the next six points, with the Lady Devils still maintaining a three-point lead at 17-14.

Lowell would put itself on the cusp of a victory late in the fourth set, leading 23-21. But Grant Union battled back, tying the score at 23-all following an unpopular call by officials that forced the two teams to replay the point.

The Lady Pros would take their first lead of the contest on the next point, going up 24-23 to force a Lady Devil timeout. On the very next point, the officials again made a call that the Lady Pros protested, calling a spiked ball out of play despite Grant Union’s pleas that the ball was tipped by Lowell prior to drifting out of bounds.

The call left the game tied at 24, extending Lowell’s season and ensuring the crowd got a small amount of extra volleyball. The Lady Pros would shake those controversial calls off and gain the final two points of the set to win the fourth set and emerge with a 3-1 match victory and secure a fourth-place state finish.

Game scores for the match were 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 and 26-24.

Grant Union head volleyball coach Mariah Moulton said she’s proud of the effort her team put forth in the tournament and praised their ability to rebound following the tough loss to Salem Academy in the opening round.

“After a loss, it is easy to roll over and give up since we couldn’t win the title,” Moulton said. “But the girls fought for fourth place, which is a huge achievement.”

The key was the team’s seniors, who realized the tournament would be their final run with one another.

“With our team having a big group of seniors, they left it all on the floor because they knew it was their last time playing with this team,” Moulton said.

Next season the team will be vastly different, welcoming up to 11 freshmen onto the roster. It is something that Moulton looks forward to even as she reflects on this year’s success.

“I will never forget this year’s team — they are a special group of girls,” she said. “But I am eager to get to work next season.”