The Varsity volleyball team qualified to go to state for the first time since they moved up from a 3A school to a 4A school in 2016. Ever since this change, Varsity hasn’t been able to qualify for state until now. The 2023 Varsity team made it their goal to make it on the bracket for state and with all the hard work and determination they made it.

On Thursday, Nov. 9, the Grizzlies played Skyline in the postseason, determining whether they go to state or not. They fought hard and won the game 3-2 sending the students rushing onto the court in celebration with the final point qualifying the Grizzlies for state. “It felt like all the hard work finally paid off! My team would come in early to lift and stay after school to practice, and it totally showed when playing! I have never felt more proud than the moment that we qualified for state,” Tessa Mossburg said.

They continued on to play Eastlake and lost before leaving for state on Thursday, Nov. 16 with a send off by some of the parents and a few JV players before heading off in vans that had their numbers and volleyballs drawn all over the windows.

Once they arrived in Yakima, the team settled at a hotel and stayed for the night until Friday, when they officially made their way to the SunDome in Yakima where they would play the Wenatchee Panthers first, losing 3-0. In between games they had a long break before playing the West Valley Rams where they lost 3-1 after taking the first set. Even though they didn’t make it that far they made it to top 16 and achieved the biggest goal that they had set for themselves.