They had heart, but it wasn’t enough for the East Jefferson Rivals varsity volleyball team to beat the undefeated Annie Wright Gators Thursday night at Chimacum High.

The Gators started off in good form and never looked back in a 25-3, 25-8, and 25-10 win over the Rivals.

While the loss slides EJ’s record to 1-8-1 (1-6-1 conference), the girls picked up momentum from the second set thanks to standout performances from senior star Alyssa Vandenberg and sophomore libero Sophia Petta.

“I think the girls did pretty well. It’s a really tough team that they played against tonight and there were a lot of good rallies and they were in the right spot a lot of times,” said Rivals Head Coach Carrie Beebe.

The Gators chomped through East Jefferson for most of the opening set, going up 7-0 over the Rivals to start. A serving error on Annie Wright’s end flipped possession to EJ but the home team conceded possession back as the Gators extended the score to 13-1.

Annie Wright continued to tack on points until they reached 25 to take the first set. The final scoreline was 25-3.

Annie Wright’s control of the front zone continued into the second set until a serving error handed possession back to the Rivals with the score at 11-1 with the Gators well ahead.

A few plays later, Vandenberg got her team and the crowd going with a big block on the Gators’ front line to move the score to 14-2.

A stellar effort from the EJ squad shifted the score to 18-6, with Petta in the libero position making a series of lunging dives to trouble the opponents and keep play going.

The Gators eventually got the better of the Rivals to win the second set, 25-8.

East Jefferson’s gradual improvement throughout the match continued into the third set as they stifled the Gators early to earn possession with the score at 3-1. Annie Wright’s squad responded with a dominant sequence of plays to return to a comfortable 9-1 lead. Possession returned to EJ after a serving error, then Vandenberg returned in her spark-plug role with another vital block to move the score to 9-3.

Both teams continued to battle it out, the underdog Rivals were eventually defeated with the scoreline at 25-10 in set three.

A loss always hurts, but Beebe was proud of her squad for bringing it against arguably the best volleyball squad in the Nisqually League.

“I think they did well for tonight, they started to bring it back. They started to realize what spots to be in, to cover the angles correctly, and started giving it right back at them,” Beebe said.

When asked which of her players stood out on the night, she said, “I was looking at Alyssa with her digs — 25 digs tonight. Sophia with 19 (digs); Alyssa had 11 hits and a 12th as a kill; Ellise [Gardner] got three kills tonight, so yeah those were our top stats.”

Other standouts on the stats sheet were senior Luna Moloitis with 10 passes and seven digs, as well as senior Lily Morrison with six passes and 11 digs on the night.

The Rivals were next scheduled to face Cascade Christian School (7-1 overall record) away from home on Monday, Oct. 3.