Lawrence high’s Kiely Mosiman (6) celebrates with seniors Jasmyn Turner (5) and Carrie Klemencic after scoring a point during a match against Shawnee Mission East in this Oct. 3 file photo at Lawrence High. LHS on Friday will make its second straight trip to the Class 6A state tournament, to be held at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka. The Lions have already met all but one team in the state bracket.

Lawrence High’s Jasmyn Turner (5) and Lillian Schonewise (10) defend the net after a hit by a Shawnee Mission East player during a match Saturday at Lawrence High.

The Lawrence High volleyball team advanced to the championship bracket of the school’s Joan Wells Invitational for the first time in years on Saturday.

But it didn’t exactly feel that way.

Tears, frowns and thoughts of what could have been painted the picture in the LHS locker room at the end of the day, but those gave way to a small feeling of satisfaction as time went on.

“Going into the day, we all expected to be in the Gold bracket,” said LHS coach Stephanie Magnuson, whose team finished 2-2 but lost in the first round of the championship bracket. “So I think that’s why we’re so disappointed. Getting into the Gold bracket was not enough. We wanted to win our own tournament.”

At times on Saturday, the Lions looked like they were capable of doing just that. Juniors Lillian Schonewise, Mary Coldsnow and Kelsey Broadwell, along with seniors Jasmyn Turner and Carrie Klemencic were monsters at the net for most of the day and the LHS defense — particularly Alex Kincaid, Kendyll Severa, Kiely Mosiman and Morgan Green — was feisty throughout. Never was that more evident than in the Lions’ opening match against Shawnee Mission East.

In that one, LHS used quickness and conditioning to outlast the Lancers. Both games of the match went to overtime, with the first game finishing, 36-34, in favor of the Lions.

“I’ve been playing volleyball a long time and I don’t think I’ve been in a game that went that high,” Turner said. “We just fought hard the whole way and had great heart at the end to pull through.”

Unfortunately, coming through in the end was a problem for the Lions the rest of the day. After pounding Veritas Christian 25-7, 25-6 in match No. 2, the Lions saw early leads against Shawnee Heights and Maize disappear down the stretch.

LHS lost to Heights, 25-21, 25-21, to drop to second in Pool A and fell to Maize, 25-21, 25-21, 25-20, in the opening round of tourney play. LHS led by an average margin of 4-1 in all five games but won just one of them.

“There were moments when we were giving 100 percent effort and playing really scrappy,” Severa said. “But then a couple of times, we just lost that intensity for strings of points and couldn’t get it back.”

The loss in the first round of tourney play was particularly tough for the Lions (14-8) because it came to the same team they lost to in the championship match of the Maize Invitational two weeks ago.

Still, finishing the day in the main gym and in the top bracket instead of in the small gym in the consolation bracket like they’ve become accustomed to provided LHS with a lift.

As for Veritas, which was playing in its first Class 6A tournament in school history, the Eagles were largely overmatched and overwhelmed throughout the day. Veritas lost all three matches of pool play by identical 25-7 and 25-6 scores and then lost to Shawnee Mission Northwest, 25-13, 25-9, in the first round of tournament play in the Silver bracket.

Despite finishing the day 0-4, Veritas coach Kristen Oberzan said she was encouraged by what her team gained from playing such tough competition.

“We started out a little tight,” Oberzan said. “But by the end of the day, we were back to playing like we’re capable of playing. It was hard for the girls because they wanted to see more points on the board. But as a coach, I was very proud of the way they competed.”