The Wenatchee volleyball squad has ended its regular season with a league record of 8-2  and will be seeded second in the upcoming Big 9 District Tournament. WHS has dominated in its latest matches, including three-game sweeps against Davis High School and Sunnyside High School. In these two games, Wenatchee outscored their opponents, 155-90, and senior Abby McKay had a total of 38 digs.

The only match that kept WHS back from getting first in league and hosting the District Tournament was their last match against the Eisenhower Cadets on Oct. 15, which ended in three games, but reasons for that loss are controversial. In the tournament the previous weekend, senior Kiana Black received a yellow card for arguing, and Coach Leanne Branam forced her to sit out in the first game of the Eisenhower match because of it. Black said, “I don’t believe I’m the reason for any win or loss, it’s a total team sport. But I think the different starting lineup just threw everybody off.”

Coach Branam and many of her players were expecting the Panthers to get first in the league at the beginning of the year. “Getting second in league was kind of disappointing, but it’s nothing we can’t come back from,” says Branam.

WHS will face off against the third seed Moses Lake on Nov. 9 at the District Tournament at Eisenhower High School, and after winning their last match against Moses Lake  in five games, senior Ali Marboe thinks it will be a close one. “It will definitely be the most intense match of the year, but it will all come down to who wants it more,” said Marboe.

If they win that match, the Panthers will move on to the District championship and earn a berth into the State Tournament at Saint Martin’s University on Nov. 16.