The Lynnwood Royals volleyball team won two of the four matches played during the two-day 3A state championship tournament Nov. 22-23, finishing in eighth place at the Yakima SunDome. It was the second consecutive season in which the team placed in the top eight at state. The team finished in third place during the 2023 tournament.
The Royals entered the tournament as the ninth-seeded team and faced eighth-seeded Liberty in the Round of 16 match on Friday afternoon. Things looked promising for Lynnwood early as they won the first two sets 26-24 and 27-25, putting them within one set of advancing to the quarterfinals. Liberty managed to battle back, winning the last three sets 25-22, 25-14, 15-10 for the victory and sending the Royals into the consolation bracket.
Lynnwood’s second match was later that night against 16th-seeded Bishop Blanchet, an elimination match. The Royals were up to the challenge and made sure that their tournament didn’t end on the opening day, winning in three straight sets: 25-22, 25-19, 25-18.
On Saturday morning, Lynnwood played another Wesco team, the 12th-seeded Snohomish Panthers — an elimination match with the winner advancing to an award match. The Royals rolled over the Panthers in the opening set, 25-9, but the Panthers tied up the match with a 25-23 second set. Lynnwood then moved back head by taking the third set 25-19 and pulled away with a 25-9 fourth set for the win.
The fourth and final match of the weekend was against the 15th-seeded Bellevue Wolverines, with the winner finishing the tournament in seventh place and the losing team taking eighth place. The Royals squeaked out a 25-23 win in the opening set; however, the Wolverines won the next two sets — 25-15 and 26-24 — to take a two-set-to-one advantage. The Royals forced a fifth and final set by winning the fourth set, 25-22. Belleveue regrouped and won the deciding set, 15-9, giving Bellevue the seventh-place finish and Lynnwood taking eighth.
The Royals’ final overall record for the season was 16-8.
— By Steve Willits
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