Salina ? Similar to the Kansas City Royals’ exciting postseason run, Baldwin High’s volleyball team ended its season with a close second-place finish.

Clay Center edged the Bulldogs in the 4A-Div. II championship match, 11-25, 25-20, 25-23, on Saturday in the Bicentennial Center.

Baldwin, which finished 31-12, downed Iola in the semifinals, 25-11, 25-20.

In the title match, Baldwin coach Jill Brown said the Bulldogs “started off the match very aggressively in the first set. We attacked the ball well, 11 kills to two errors for a .470 hitting efficiency. We also served aggressively with four aces in the set. We got a couple of key blocks early in the game and were able to shut down their big hitters. Clay Center came back pretty strong in the second set.”

The third set was tight all the way. Neither team managed a lead bigger than three points.

The leaders for Baldwin on the day included Jordan Hoffman with 23 kills, a .454 hitting efficiency, 12 digs and four aces; Alexia Stein with 22 kills and a .360 hitting efficiency; Corey Valentine with 45 assists, 16 digs, eight aces and a 2.5 serve-receive rating; Emma Burnett with 12 kills, a .346 hitting efficiency and 13 digs; and Kyna Smith with 18 digs.