As Enumclaw High wound down its South Puget Sound League 3A regular season and headed into Saturday’s subdistrict volleyball tournament at Auburn Mountainview High, it was about the Plateau 3A rivalry with Bonney Lake.

Bonney Lake entered the subdistrict tournament as the SPSL 3A second- place team. Even though Bonney Lake and Enumclaw ended with identical marks of 6-3, the Panthers won the coin flip to get the No. 2 nod.

Prior to subdistricts, there was a regular-season finale. The battle between the Hornets and Panthers was the first time Enumclaw seniors had posted a regular season victory over Bonney Lake. To be sure, the 23-25, 29-27, 25-20, 19-25, 15-11 win over the Panthers was one for the ages and injected seniors Richelle Carel, Katina Ferguson, Gina Sanders, Alex Putman and Abbie Maxwell with confidence heading into subdistricts.

The two would ultimately end up meeting again in Saturday’s subdistricts.

Enumclaw embarked upon its second season against Highline and made the Pirates walk the plank 25-11, 25-17 and 25-16.

Bonney Lake spent its morning pounding away at Peninsula 25-20, 25-20, 22-25 and 26-24.

Having cleared their initial morning hurdles, both Plateau contingents confronted a bit more adversity after the break. The Panthers fell to a ferocious Kennedy Catholic crew 25-19, 27-25 and 25-18 while Enumclaw tumbled to the Auburn Mountainview Lions 25-15, 20-25, 19-25, 25-17 and 15-11.

After taking a stab at upsetting the Lions, in what Carel tabbed an emotionally-draining match, EHS’ last match of the afternoon came against Bonney Lake. The Panthers clearly had their way with the Hornets this time around as they repeatedly found unoccupied regions of Enumclaw’s side of the net.

This critical match was for third and fifth seeds from the SPSL 3A into Saturday’s West Central District III tournament, again at Auburn Mountainview.

To the victor went the spoils as Bonney Lake beat the Hornets in straight sets 25-23, 25-18, 25-20.