WHITE SWAN – Oroville’s volleyball team played one of its best matches of the season Thursday, Nov. 7, in White Swan, but it wasn’t enough.

The bigger, stronger, more experienced Cougars swept Oroville 25-19, 25-22, 25-20, but the Hornets didn’t make it easy.

The Hornets only led briefly early in the first two sets, but the Cougars were never able to get comfortable in any of the three games. Oroville, which didn’t have the firepower of White Swan’s front line hitters, nonetheless played a patient game, kept the ball in play and forced the Cougars into a number of errors that kept it close.

White Swan, a state tournament qualifier last season, is riding a late-season surge that saw them hand Kittitas its only loss of the season thus far as well as knocking perennial state team Riverside Christian out of contention in the last two weeks alone.

White Swan plays Liberty Bell in a winner-to-state, loser-out game on Saturday, Nov. 9.

The Hornets finish their best season in more than 15 years at 8-8.

We’ll have more in next week’s print edition.