Capital volleyball finishes runner-up in 3A state tournament with loss to Mount Spokane in final

The Capital Cougars got the rematch they wanted.

Just not the outcome.

For the second straight year, the Cougars lost to Mount Spokane in the Class 3A state volleyball tournament at the Yakima SunDome – this time in the championship match, 3-2.

But Capital coach Katie Tourcotte had no regrets.

“I’m so proud of these girls,” she said. “If we were going to go out the way we went out, the two top teams in the state battling, a five-set match. I’m so proud of my girls.

“At this moment, it stinks, but I couldn’t be prouder of the determination and they way they kept battling. And Mount Spokane is a good team, but we stuck with them.”

Mount Spokane (29-2) came in ranked No. 1 and Capital (25-5) No. 2 and both looked the part. The Wildcats, who lost just three players from last year’s squad, became the first 3A team to win back-to-back since Seattle Prep doubled up in 2002-03.

The Cougars were eager for another chance at Mount Spokane after losing to the Wildcats in last year’s semifinals, 3-1 – especially since they had started that one so strong with an opening-set win (25-15) before spiraling. They came back to place third, but were left wanting more.

They earned an opportunity to get it Saturday with a 3-1 win semifinal win over No. 6 Roosevelt of Seattle. That put Capital in the championship match for the second time in three years and fifth time in program history. The Cougars’ only title came in 2017, when the beat Mercer Island.

The Cougars had their opportunities Saturday. It was 15-15 in the first set before Mount Spokane pulled away, 25-18. Capital pulled even with a 26-24 win in the second set (after the Wildcats fought off four set points). And the Cougs had several leads in the third set before losing, 25-23.

Capital broke through again in the fourth, 25-20, after letting some early leads slip away. And then the Cougs jumped up 5-1 in the fifth and it seemed momentum might finally be on their side.

But Mount Spokane just wouldn’t quit. The two teams were deadlocked at nine when the Wildcats kicked into high gear and reeled off the final six points.

The Cougars’ other second-place finishes came in 2014, 2013 and1994.

They were all business on Friday’s opening day, blitzing Interlake of Bellevue and Lakeside of Seattle in straight sets. Roosevelt provided a little more of a challenge in the semifinals Saturday. The Roughriders, making their first Final Four appearance, were the first to take a set off the Cougars, but ultimately fell short (25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 25-21).

Central Kitsap was the only other South Sound-area team to fare well in the 3A tournament with a seventh-place finish – their first ever state trophy. The Cougars (15-11) had fallen into the consolation bracket after a first-round loss to Roosevelt on Friday, 3-0. They then eliminated Stadium in a hard-fought, 3-2 match, and clinched a trophy Saturday morning with a 3-1 victory over Interlake.

Peninsula and Gig Harbor both went 0-2, getting eliminated on the first day.