PORTERVILLE – As postseason high school volleyball arrives in the Central Valley, plenty of excitement comes with it as teams begin to duke it out. But with some teams claiming glory this fall, others will unfortunately see their seasons come to an end.

And in the first round of the Division 2 playoffs, the Monache Marauders saw their season come to a close with a 3-1 loss (17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23) to the Yosemite Badgers on Tuesday night, Oct. 24. While their season is over, Monache head coach Rosalia Quinones was proud of the Marauders’ season that saw them go 18-11 and finish second in the East Yosemite League.

“It was a great season. We’re rebuilding and we have young girls as we’re only losing three girls this year,” Quinones said. “We’re looking forward to continuing to excel in our league and hopefully one day get to quarterfinals or even a valley title.”

Early on against Yosemite, it looked like the Marauders had a strong chance of extending their season. After a 9-9 tie to start the first set, the Marauders went on a quick 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. The Badgers kept it close as the Marauders eked out a 15-14 lead halfway through the contest.

The Marauders then played their best volleyball of the night as they went on an 8-3 run to stretch their lead out to 23-17. They then scored two straight points to win, 25-17, for a 1-0 lead to start the match. While the Marauders had their issues later in the match, Quinones believed everything was clicking for the Marauders early in the night.

“Our serve-receive was awesome,” Quinones said. “We were running our plays, our hitters were on, we were talking and our body language was positive.”

But the Marauders had trouble pulling ahead in the second. Throughout the contest, neither team could take control as they fought it out to a 20-20 stalemate. The Badgers took the lead, but Monache kept it close to trail, 23-22. The Badgers then finished it off with two straight points for the 25-22 win that tied the match.

The Badgers built off that win as they took control to start the third to race out to a 20-14 lead. The Marauders were able to get back on track with a 9-4 run that cut their deficit to 24-23. But Yosemite closed it out with two scores to win, 25-23, for a 2-1 lead in the match.

Looking to close it out on the road, the Badgers clawed out a 12-6 lead over the Marauders to start the fourth. The Marauders came back to make it close down the stretch, but the Badgers hung on to win, 25-23, and advance to the Division 2 quarterfinals. While the Marauders showed grit in their comeback attempts, those deficits were too much to overcome in the end.

“We got behind and we got in a funk,” Quinones said. “We were playing as if the game was already over too early in the sets so it’s just hard to come back from that. They were close sets but it was too little, too late.”

In their final match of the season, several Marauders played well in the losing effort. Middle hitter London Haynes led the team with 16 kills while also recording six digs. Outside hitter Tatiana Quinones also played well with 13 kills, 21 digs and four aces. With these players and others returning for Monache next year, the Marauders should find themselves competing for the postseason once again.