Colfax finishes second at state tournament

YAKIMA - After beating No. 1-seed Kalama earlier in the day, Colfax had one more match on the schedule against No. 3-seed La Conner for all the marbles.

It was a special season for Colfax – who made it to its first championship game appearance since 2017 and had not lost a game outside of tournament play to a team in the 2B classification.

"I think the biggest thing is just how far we've come this year," Colfax coach Megan Dorman said. "We have improved times ten. So – to see them play in that match – that big (of a) game – and not give up; I thought we played until the end. I think we just ran into a more experienced La Conner team."

The experience of the Braves over the Bulldogs showed – dominating the first set 25-12 and taking a 1-0 lead over the Bulldogs.

Colfax shook the opening set jitters and fought back in the second set – taking La Conner to extra points and winning the second set 26-24 to tie the game back up.

Both teams struggled to break free from the other in the majority of the third set – with the Braves holding a narrow 15-13 lead over the Bulldogs before finishing the set on a 10-6 run to take a 2-1 match lead with a 25-19 third-set win.

The fourth set was Colfax's last chance to tie the game and keep the hopes of a 2B championship alive – and the team played like it, especially in the early-happenings of the set.

It was 8-8 in the fourth set before the Braves slowly started inching away – going on a 12-7 run to take a 20-15 lead, and ultimately a 25-18 set win and a 3-1 overall match victory.

Despite the result not being what the Bulldogs hoped, the experience will most likely prove invaluable to Colfax heading into the next season.

"I think there's some high points that we'll have," Dorman said. "We have almost everyone coming back. I think there's some things that we need to go back to the drawing board and make sure we're ready for next year. And then I think we'll be even tougher next year."

Including the tournament, Colfax finished the season 13-3 overall and 7-0 in league competition.

It was the best finish Colfax had had to a season since the 2020 season, where there was no state tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the highest placement in the state tournament since the aforementioned 2017 season.

Colfax finished the season with four total All-League players.

Junior Hailey Demler achieving second-team honors and senior Jaisha Gibb, junior Lauryn York and sophomore Brynn McGaughy earning first-team honors.