ZEPNYR COVE, Nev. — The Whittell Warriors eighth grade volleyball team capped off a perfect season on Thursday, Feb. 16, by winning the Tah-Neva volleyball tournament.

After winning the league championship on Tuesday, Feb. 14, the Warriors headed into the tournament to play the Pau-Wa-Lu Panthers. The Warriors upset the Panthers in two sets (25-11, 25-12) to move on to take on number one seed, Carson Middle School.

The match between the Warriors and Carson Middle School turned out to be a three set battle. In the first set, the Warriors beat Carson 26-24. The second set went to Carson 25-22 leading to a third set. The Warriors came out determined to win the third set, and brought home the victory 15-13. This propelled them into the title match against second seed Eagle Valley Middle School from Carson.

Having just endured the battle with Carson Middle School, the Warriors gathered their focus and met the challenge. This challenge also went three sets.

The Warriors took the first set 30-28 after an intense back and forth battle to win by two. The second set was dominated by Eagle Valley winning 25-17. With the match tied, a third set to 15 was needed to determine who would walk away with the title. The third set was another battle of wills. Eagle Valley jumped out to an early 7-3 lead but with a strategic time out by Coach Heather Lamb, she once again was able to have her team rally and win 15-13.

Winning the Tah-Neva tournament by Whittell is an accomplishment not seen by the league in many years. According to league director Kris Nugent, this is the first time a team from the league has won a Tah-Neva championship.