RAYMOND — Adna has been considered the best 2B team in the state all season long. It was that way when the season began, and Adna only bolstered its resume by beating teams like Montesano and Manson before running the table in league play.

Among all of their excellent performances this season, Wednesday’s may have been the most impressive, as Adna dominated and swept Rainier 25-20, 25-16, 25-10 to return to the district championship game and clinch a fourth consecutive state tournament berth.

“It means a lot,” Adna coach Wendie Dotson said. “These girls put in so much time and energy into getting where they are.”

The Pirates were firing from the first point of the game against Rainier, scoring 14 of the game’s first 20 points to build an early lead. It was clear early on that they were fired up, as the bench and Adna crowd grew louder with each point.

“It was our goal to have energy the whole game,” Dotson said. “That’s what they did.”

Rainier went on an 11-4 run to get back within a point, but the Adna offense started rolling and the Pirates finished off the set.

That offense continued to click throughout the rest of the game, as the Pirates were firing on all cylinders. They rarely sent a free ball over the net, and Karsyn Freeman, Danika Hallom, and Kendall Humphrey relentlessly hammered the ball at the Rainier defense.

“We were in system quite a bit,” Dotson said. “And we ran offense even when we weren’t in system. We still got it out to our hitters to be very offensive.”

The biggest run of the game came in the third set, when Adna went on a 17-1 run to turn a 9-8 deficit into a 25-10 win.

On the other side of the court, the Mountaineers were trying their best to play catch up, but they weren’t able to counter the Adna attack as often as they have been in previous matchups.

“We struggled through some of our plays,” Rainier coach Carrie Ooms said. “We weren’t reading the ball as well tonight as we have been. And I think tonight we just played a little more timid than what we normally do.”

While the Mountaineers would have loved to play for a district title, they can also look back to this time last year to know that the ultimate goal is still in reach.

In 2023, Rainier was swept by Adna in the district semifinals. It was the third time that the Mountaineers were beaten by the Pirates at that point last season, and they had taken just one set in those three matches.

Fast forward to state, however, and Rainier beat Adna in five in the quarterfinals.

To make it back to state this season, Rainier (15-4) will have to defeat Toutle Lake in a winner-to-state game on Saturday in Raymond. The Mountaineers won both of their matchups against the Ducks this season, including a sweep on Oct. 15.

“We’re probably gonna get another chance to see them,” Ooms said. “We’re a tough team and we’re strong when we play together … As long as the girls stick together, we should be okay.”

For the Pirates (18-0), Hallom finished with 11 kills and five digs, while Humphrey tallied 14 kills, 11 digs, and five stuff blocks. Gaby Guard dished out 31 assists and had nine digs, while Freeman had 14 kills, 14 digs, and three aces.

An Adna win against Mossyrock on Saturday in Raymond would give the Pirates’ their second straight district title, a feat they last accomplished in 2010 and 2011. It would also give the Pirates an unbeaten record going into the state tournament for the second time in school history, the first being last season.

“They are the best group of girls I’ve ever coached,” Dotson said. “With the amount of time they’ve put in, I would like to see that success show … We just have to play one game at a time.”