De Soto ? Tonganoxie’s semifinal loss to Rossville was one of the most shocking moments Saturday at the De Soto Spikefest, but the Wildcats reaching the championship game was the most pleasant surprise.

In the 10-team tournament, De Soto advanced from pool play for the first time in five years. Despite a two-game blowout loss to Rossville, just making it as far as they did was satisfying enough for the Wildcats.

“There’s not much to talk about from that last match. We got beat by a better team,” De Soto coach Lori Brooks said. “It’s been our focus that we were going to be in our best form for Spikefest, and we were. Today, they responded to the challenge that I gave them.”

The Chieftains, Class 4A’s No. 2-ranked team, were the favorites Saturday and responded by going 4-0 in pool play. However, against Rossville in the semifinals, fundamentals and fortune abandoned them. Tongie lost in two games, 25-22, 25-21.

“I think we planned to see Rossville in the finals, but they lost a game in pool play so that changed that,” THS coach Brandon Parker. “They (the Chieftains) know that we have a lot more goals ahead, and we have another tournament. This is a team that wants to go to state, and just because you lose one doesn’t mean your year’s over with.”

The loss was just the fourth this season for Tongie, with the other three coming against Mill Valley, Lansing and last year’s 6A state champ, Manhattan.

The Chieftains sulked on the bench in disbelief following their loss but responded in a big way, defeating Osawatomie in the third-place game, 25-11, 25-5.

While Tonganoxie dismantled Osawatomie, De Soto was on the adjacent court struggling to put up any kind of a fight against Rossville.

In the semis against Osawatomie, De Soto battled back from a 14-3 deficit in the third game to win 26-24 and advance to the finals. All of that momentum was sucked out by Rossville’s sister duo of Ashley and Arica Shepard, who were too much at the net for De Soto to handle. The Lady Dawgs cruised to two easy victories, 25-6, 25-8.

“We knew they were going to be a good team; they’re a state-ranked team,” Brooks said. “They just got on fire. We don’t have the defense to answer that kind of team, and I think the kids realize that.

“We’re a young team, and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to get this program to where we want it to be.”