As the 2022 season closes, the Marshfield volleyball team remained undefeated among all the 4A teams in Oregon. The volleyball team went to the state tournament in Springfield, Ore. and were seeded first. The pirates are a very young team with only one lone senior in the starting six. The pirates went into the tournament with a lot of enthusiasm, and looking to grow as a team.

“Coming into state we were looking to improve upon making less unnecessary errors that would just give the opposing team points without them actually having to work for it,” said junior Gracie Peach, the team’s libero.

As with any sport, preparations were grueling up until the day the team left for state. Extra practices were necessary and students worked diligently to tighten up their game.

“Once we knew we were going into the playoffs our coaches started having us do morning practices because we had a morning game,” said four-year player Kate Miles. “That was a struggle because we all had to wake up at 6.”

The pirates started the state tournament by playing the Crook County Cowboys, the eighth seed, in the quarterfinals. The  game started off a little rough but they ended up taking the cowboys to five sets, winning the last set 15-8. After winning the quarterfinals the pirates pushed their way onto the semi-finals where they played Baker and won 3-0. The pirates overpowered the North Bend Bulldogs all game long and were looking their best ever. After destroying the competition in their first two matches, the pirates were now set up for victory.

 They went into the championship game with a winning mentality where they played the second seed team, the Cascade Cougars. The Pirates dominated the Cougars all game, and ended up sweeping them 3-0, and taking home the state trophy for the first time in MHS volleyball history. 

“I believe that we excelled over our abilities, we played so good,” Peach said, “I knew we were going to be really really good this year and when we got to the state tournament we were a little iffy at the start but after that we excelled over our abilities.”