The Mount Si volleyball team came into this season with high expectations. Last Saturday, the Wildcats justified those expectations, beating a very tough team and and clinching their fourth straight trip to the state tournament.

In what had been expected to be a five-set thriller, the Wildcats took care of a very tough Seattle Prep team in three, 26-24, 25-22, 25-19, at West Seattle High School, sending Mount Si to the SeaKing district tournament championship game and locking up a berth at a state tournament which this season, based on how they played in this match, could include a championship trophy.

“We started out a little bit slow, then we just kind of slowly chipped away and got in our flow and controlled the match ourselves,” said Mount Si coach Bonnie Foote. “That was definitely the best we played all year, in my opinion.”

Despite the slow start, the Wildcats stayed right with Prep through the early portion of the first set. When the Panthers, one of the top teams from Metro, would try to pull away, Mount Si’s girls would rally to get back on Prep’s heels. Solid play from senior Zoe Gogan, junior Sarah McDonald and senior Amanda Gates helped the Wildcats keep it close. Mount Si took the lead for the first time at 14-13 then fought off the Panthers to post the set victory. On the third set point, with Gates on serve, a Gogan kill locked the door shut and the Wildcat fans celebrated.

Mount Si was in control throughout the entire second set, and this proved to be key. Continued strong play from the three previously mentioned players along with senior Catie Fry helped the Wildcats keep the advantage. The set would have ended sooner if it weren’t for a number of controversial calls by officials during the game point sequence in the stanza. Five game points were used up before the Wildcats got the all-important second, set thanks to a Seattle Prep service error.

The Panthers opened set three with the lead, but as in set one, the Wildcats didn’t let Prep get too far out in front. Another Panther service error put Mount Si in the lead to stay in this final frame, and on game point, senior libero Aubrey Larion’s timely dig set up the final kill of the match, credited to McDonald, closing the door on what was simply a tremendous performance by these young ladies.

“We played the best defense that we played all year,” Fry said. Gates was thrilled. “I’m so pumped up right now to beat Seattle Prep in three and that’s the game that determines who goes to state. I’m really, really excited right now,” she said.

Foote is still looking to fine-tune things. “I want to get our middles (hitters) more involved,” Foote said. That said, the veteran coach is enjoying the ride. “This is a dream team, it really is. It’s a team that I feel so lucky to be able to coach and to be their leader. I don’t know how many times around the years that a team like this will come along, so I’m going to just sit back and enjoy them the last week and a half that I have with them,” she said.

Mount Si advanced into last Saturday’s game by blowing out Nathan Hale last Thursday. Scores were 25-7, 25-14, 25-10 as the Wildcats made quick work of the Raiders behind 17 kills from Gogan and 29 assists from Fry. Larion added 13 digs to aid the cause.