The eighth-place trophy wasn't the one the Sunnyside Christian volleyball team was aiming for Saturday.

That hardly mattered to the Knights and coach Stephanie Dalrymple, though. It was the nearly three-month journey that resulted in SC capturing just its second trophy in its third trip to the state tournament that had the coach smiling.

"Regardless of the finish, I'm very proud of my girls," Dalrymple said after the Knights left the SunDome floor following a five-set loss to Odessa-Harrington in the Class 1B state tournament. The Titans, who won 25-19, 9-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-8, took seventh.

SC matched the program's best finish, which it accomplished in its last state berth in 2007. The Knights also advanced to the Class B tournament in 1997.

In defeat, the Knights showed plenty of reasons to believe there won't be another four-year break before their next state berth.

Sophomore middle hitters Brittany Broersma and Stormee Van Belle, 5-foot-10 and 5-11 respectively, were key upfront for SC. Van Belle, who finished with a team-high 24 kills, had a block-kill-block combo to record the final three points of the fourth set.

And each time the Knights went on a run, it seemed junior Alexandra Newhouse was serving.

"We've got the foundation and I'm very optimistic we'll be coming back here (to state)," Dalrymple said.

The Knights' inability to seize momentum in the first, third and fifth sets proved their undoing Saturday.

The Titans used several scoring runs to capture the program's 11th trophy, all of which -- including five championships -- were won by Odessa.

Odessa-Harrington closed the match with a 9-2 run, including the final six points of the match.

The second set was SC at its best. The Knights took a 9-1 lead and never looked back.

SC won the fourth set by building a 15-10 lead and staving off the Titans the rest of the way. Knights senior Maddy Wavrin had a few of her 23 kills in the set.

Elsewhere, Thorp's pursuit of its first state trophy fell short Saturday morning when the Tigers fell to Wilbur-Creston 23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18 in consolation play.

Selah graduate and former Eisenhower assistant Jesse Steuckle has guided Thorp to the state tournament in two of the past three seasons.

Sunnyside Christian highlights: Alyssa Haak 42-42 serving, 9 kills, 23 digs, 36 assists; Alexandra Newhouse 18 digs, 23 perfect passes; Stormee Van Belle 29-30 serving, 24 kills, 23 blocks; Danika DeGroot 25-27 serving, 18 digs, 21 assists; Maddy Wavrin 23 kills, 35 digs, 34 perfect passes; Grace den Hoed 29 digs, 27 perfect passes; Brittany Broersma 12 kills, 21 blocks; Ashleigh Oswalt 23 perfect passes.