Camas volleyball earns third consecutive 4A trophy

YAKIMA — With so many high notes over the past four years, it was fitting the seniors on the Camas volleyball team ended their high school careers with one last crescendo.

Camas rallied in the fourth set to beat Puyallup 3-1 and claim fifth place at the Class 4A state tournament Saturday.

In the past four years, Camas has won the 4A Greater St. Helens League and reached the state tournament every time.

The past three years have seen the Papermakers win a state trophy. Saturday’s finish marked back-to-back fifth-place finishes, matching the best in program history.

It also marked the third consecutive year Camas and Puyallup have clashed in the fifth-place match. Camas took the first two sets 25-10 and 25-21 before dropping the third 25-22.

Trailing 23-22 in the fourth, the season’s final three points were in the hands of two senior leaders — Shaylee Stephen on the serve and Ella Thompson making the kill on each.

Despite the tension, Thompson was taking it all in.

“I could feel the tears starting to come along,” the 4A GSHL player of the year said. “I looked at Shaylee and I was like goodness, this is it.”

Thompson will continue her volleyball career at the Division-I level, having committed to the University of Miami-Florida. But she, Stephen and fellow seniors Emmah Sanchez, Quinn Pedersen and Lillian Zarzana have set a high standard at Camas.

“A lot of us have played together for a really long time,” Thompson said. “Getting to go through this at same school, representing for Camas, it was so special.”

The Papermakers finish the season 21-4, marking the third consecutive season of 20 or more wins.

Camas bounced back from a four-set loss to Wenatchee in the quarterfinals on Friday night. The Papermakers regrouped Saturday morning to beat Olympia in five sets (19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-8) in a match that started at 8 a.m.

“We fought so hard,” Stephen said. “Last night, even though we took a tough loss, it was eye-opening for all of us to see how truly bad we wanted it. We took that onto the court today.”