It took 31 years, but Baldwin High’s volleyball team finally made another trip to the state tournament.

One goal down, one title to go.

Since last spring the Bulldogs, who beat Osawatomie in the sub-state final, 15-4, 15-7, last Saturday in Louisburg, have been talking about the Class 4A state tournament. They made it to Salina, and now they want it all.

“I came in Monday and said, ‘All right, we’re there, but that’s not enough,'” Bulldogs coach Jill Brown said.

For Baldwin, a No. 7 seed at 31-7 overall, to advance out of today’s opening round at the Salina Bicentennial Center, it must be one of the top two teams in its pool. Opening with Clearwater (31-7) at 8:30 a.m., the Bulldogs then play Colby (30-3) at 11:30 a.m. and Towanda-Circle (30-6) at 1:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs were hoping for a slightly higher seed after winning the most games in school history, but Brown said the draw was favorable.

“That’s what I kept telling the girls,” she said. “I said, ‘Think, if we do well at sub-state, that’s another three wins and we’ll get a good seed.’ Then I get the stuff on Sunday and we’re a 7 seed.

“But really, looking at the two pools, I feel like we have a pretty good shot.”

That’s because the other side of the bracket has the tourney favorite, Lansing (34-1), Hayden (35-4), which was in the state title game last year, and Concordia (31-4), an 11-time state champ. Iola (22-11) rounds out the pool.

In 1971, the Bulldogs went 7-5, according to records Brown dug up, and won the regional title. That was the first year the Kansas State High School Athletic Assn. held a state tournament, which was only three events then, 5-4-3A, 2A and 1A.

Baldwin has been close the last couple of years, but was never able to overcome its sub-state draw.

With a group of juniors and seniors that played heavily in summer-league tournaments, Brown knew her squad had a shot but wasn’t sure the team knew it. That changed Oct. 1 after a triangular at Eudora.

“We knew we had the talent, we just had some confidence problems,” Brown said. “We had a really bad night in Eudora. We lost to Anderson County and Eudora, two teams that we really needed to beat, and we didn’t. We made some lineup changes, talked about our attitude and we’ve gone 19-0 since then.”

In that time, the Bulldogs have won three tournaments, including sub-state, while using a seven-player rotation that relies on the same players extensively.

“I like having that group that stays out there,” Brown said. “You just don’t have that chemistry otherwise.”