Royal takes third at Burbank tourney

Knights overcome early loss to Tri-City Prep

BURBANK - The Royal Lady Knights returned from the Columbia-Burbank volleyball tournament Saturday with a third place finish.

The Lady Knights fell in the opening round match 2-0 to Tri-City Prep before rebounding against Columbia-Burbank and Wahluke.

Royal fell 25-17 and 26-24 to Try-City Prep while Page Woodward had seven kills in the contest and Olivia Christensen had six blocks.

In the Knights' second match, Woodward and Caitlin Paysse led Royal to victory over the Columbia-Burbank varsity team. Royal knocked off Columbia-Burbank 25-22 and 27-25 to win the match 2-0. Woodward had five kills and two blocks in the win. Paysse added three kills and two blocks.

Royal squared off with the Columbia-Burbank junior varsity in the Knights' third match of the tournament. The Knights rallied for 25-18 and 25-17 victories to sweep their second consecutive tournament match. Paysse led the Lady Knights with three kills and four blocks while Leslie Brown added seven assists for Royal.

The Lady Knights met Wahluke in the fourth game of the tournament. The Knights fell 25-19 in the first game of the match before winning the final two games 25-17 and 15-8 to clinch third place.

After the tournament Royal head coach Ashley Roberts said she was impressed with her team's efforts.

"It was a good tournament for Royal," she said. "We learned a lot and got to play a lot."

The Lady Knights used the tournament as an opportunity to establish Royal's varsity line-up, Roberts said.

"This tournament is a really good chance for us to figure out our rotations, find out what we need to work on," she said.

Royal returns to action tonight against visiting Wahluke High School.