Tonganoxie High’s 2014 volleyball season has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride, so perhaps it’s fitting that Saturday’s Tonganoxie Invitational was full of ups and downs.

The Chieftains went 3-1 in pool play to earn a spot in the semifinals, but lost both their matches in bracket play to finish fourth out of 10 teams.

THS opened tournament action against eventual champion Ottawa, falling to the Cyclones in straight sets, 25-17, 25-19. The Chieftains bounced back with sweeps of Bishop Ward (25-16, 25-16) and Great Bend (25-17, 25-19), forcing a win-and-in scenario in its final pool play match against Class 6A Gardner-Edgerton.

Coach Tiffany Parker’s squad defeated the Trailblazers in three sets, 25-16, 21-25, 25-13, to finish second in its pool and secure a spot in the semifinals against Bonner Springs.

“We are progressing and getting better every day,” Parker said. “I’m just excited for the progress we’ve made. Kids are starting to step up and really take on the positions they’ve been given. We had some kids play really well.”

The Chieftains got off to a strong start in their semifinal match, clawing out to an 18-13 lead in the first set. BSHS battled back to within one at 21-20, but THS scored four of the next five points to win the set, 25-21. The strong start didn’t carry over, though, as the Braves won the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-16.

THS couldn’t recover in the third-place match against another 6A opponent in Shawnee Mission Northwest. The Chieftains clung to an 8-7 lead early in the opening set, but the Cougars went in front for good with an 8-2 run and went on to win the set, 25-17. SMNW scored the first nine points of the second set and never looked back, capping off the sweep with a 25-16 win.

“That’s just kind of the way volleyball is,” Parker said. “We just started to have some hitting and passing errors, and all that adds up. The momentum wasn’t quite going our way in the second and third set. We’ve just got to mentally be tough enough to get through the end of tournaments.”

Ottawa, which didn’t lose a set in six tournament matches, easily dispatched of Bonner Springs in the championship match, 25-13, 25-8. The Cyclones scored the first 10 points of the first set and opened the second with a 12-2 lead.

Following the tournament, THS senior Summer Cerny was named to the all-tournament team. The McLouth transfer was the Chieftains’ only selection.

“She’s a reliable senior that we can get the ball to,” Parker said of Cerny. “It’s been tough for her to come in as a move-in and take such a big role, so it’s good for her teammates to see that I didn’t pick her for all-tournament team. It was other coaches that saw it. That kind of validates her ability.”

Parker also spoke highly of sophomore Emily Hummelgaard’s tournament performance. Hummelgaard is a first-year starter at libero.

Bishop Ward’s Nadia Ross was named the tournament’s best defensive player, while Ottawa’s Brette Moore was named the most valuable player.

THS returned to action Monday at Kansas City Christian, where it defeated host school KCC and lost to Holton in a triangular. It will resume its Kaw Valley League schedule Tuesday with a dual at Lansing.