KENNEWICK — R.A. Long and Mark Morris took different paths at the Class 2A state volleyball tournament, but ended with similar results.

The Lumberjills and Monarchs finished with 1-2 state records Saturday at the Toyota Center.

RAL lost in the opening round, then made a massive comeback to win an early morning match Saturday before falling to a tough opponent in an elimination match.

MM opened with a solid victory, then lost to a very tight match on Friday. On Saturday, the Monarchs were knocked out by a hard-hitting West Valley team.

When the tears fade and the Longview teams look back, both will reflect on solid seasons in their own respective ways.

“I told them 15-5, they have to hold their heads up high. That‘s a great (overall) record,” Mark Morris coach Lisa Verage said. “There are a lot of teams that are 0-15 and a lot of teams that are not here at state. We didn’t quite make some of our goals we had set, but they shouldn’t hold their heads.”

Mark Morris played outstanding defense against a West Valley team that attacked the net with aggressive and strong-swinging hitters from all angles.

The Monarchs held off a late West Valley rally to take the first game 27-25, but the Eagles caught fire in the final three games (25-16, 25-20, 25-13).

In the first game, MM held leads of 8-3, 17-13 and 22-17 before West Valley went on a 7-0 run to push ahead 24-22. The Monarchs continued to play strong in the back row, fending off numerous blasts — including a one-handed, game-saving dig by Lindsay Cappa that led to an MM point to lock the score at 24-24.

The score went to 25-all before MM had a tip winner and West Valley hit one into the net to secure Game 1.

But the Eagles wore down the Monarchs’ defense the rest of the way and ousted them from the tournament.

Danielle Gilchrist dished out 28 assists and had 15 digs for MM.

“West Valley has big hitters and they just kept pounding it at us,” Verage said. “The girls got up as many points as they could, they just kept fighting. They have a lot of hard swingers and they were making good shots. They had a little more firepower than we did.”

The defensive play by libero Jill Isaacson, Shantelle Savage, Cappa, Alesha Schulz and Shawna Smith was outstanding all game long, digging balls that other teams would not have played.

Savage, who had 17 digs and eight kills, recorded her 330th dig of the season, a school record. Schulz added to her newly broken school record of service aces with one to bring the senior’s total to 85.

MM’s solid season was highlighted with a league title and a second-place finish at the district tourney.

“It’s a frustration a little bit. You win that first match and the team you beat is going for a trophy and you’re not,” Verage said. “It’s just the way the game goes. You just battle back, come back next year and fight again.”

R.A. Long rebounded from a loss on the opening day of the state tourney to win a dramatic come-from-behind victory Saturday morning, before seeing their season come to an end against a talented and athletic Anacortes team.

The Jills had their backs against the wall — in danger of losing two straight matches — when they fell behind 2-0 to Grandview. RAL was not going down that easy.

RAL came back to take the match 16-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-8.

“Unfortunately, my team is kind of a slow-starting team. It takes a lot to happen before we get really fired up,” RAL coach Jennifer Hefley said. “It’s amazing for any team at this level to come back after losing the first two. That goes to show that we were really mature in that game. We stuck together. We supported each other and we fought hard to overcome all the obstacles.”

Kylee McGeary had eight service points, two aces and eight digs. Rachel Morrow had a double-double with 13 kills and 13 blocks, Aryn Aston also had 13 kills and Hannah Johnson was the floor leader with 14 service points, five aces, four digs, 41 assists, three kills and three blocks.

RAL finished one game away from taking home a trophy after falling to Anacortes 25-21, 11-25, 25-17, 25-13.

After dropping the first game, RAL moved ahead 16-6 behind five straight service points by Miranda Wilson. Johnson’s block made it 20-9 RAL as the Jills cruised in the second game.

Johnson finished with two aces, four kills, 16 assists, six digs and four points against Anacortes while McGeary had two aces, eight kills, two blocks, six digs and 14 points. Other top players for the Jills against the Seahawks were Aston (five kills, four points), Katie Sarysz (seven kills, five points), Morrow (seven blocks) and Spurgeon (six digs).

“My goal was to be able to walk off the court, win or lose, and be proud of my girls knowing we gave 100 percent,” Hefley said. “I truly believe my girls, every single one of them, contributed in some shape or form. I feel everybody put out everything they had at the end. I can walk off feeling proud. We proved to a lot of teams that we deserved to be here.”