The fourth time was a charm.

Sequim’s Wolves are headed to the class 2A state tournament after winning three loser-out matches at the West Central District 2A tournament in Tacoma last week.

The last match was another matchup with Olympic League foe Kingston and it took four tough sets (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23) for Sequim to oust their rivals.

Sequim started the tourney with a three-set loss to Franklin Pierce (25-19, 25-23 and 25-16) on Nov. 6. The Wolves were adjusting to a different lineup, as Sequim coach Jennie Webber Heilman switched Adrienne Haggerty to the middle to help with blocking and Maddy Potts to the right side for hitting.

“It probably didn’t help us at first but it did in the end,” Webber Heilman said. “We thought if we could take the second game, we might have a chance.”

Megan Breckenridge led the team with seven kills and 22 digs. Ella Christiansen had four blocks and McKenzie Bentz chipped in with 19 digs. The Wolves were nearly perfect at the service stripe, going 58-for-59.

Instead, Franklin Pierce advanced to the second round and wound up placing fourth and Sequim faced the prospect of having to win three matches in a row to move on to state.

Later that day, Sequim knocked off Sammamish in three sets (25-15, 25-22 and 25-20) to stay alive.

Haggerty led the way with seven kills and five blocks — both team highs — and Balkan paced the offense with seven assists. Breckenridge was 21-of-22 on serves with five aces. She and Bentz combined for 25 digs.

“It was nice to have a game like that to get a little confidence going,” Webber Heilman said. “We were getting some good blocks and (Sammamish’s 6-foot 4-inch Promise Taylor) was the only one that was hitting.”

That set up a consolation semifinal against Foster, a team that had come off a drubbing at the hands of district champ White River. Sequim dominated from the outset, slipped in the second set and got back on track in a four-set win (25-10, 25-27, 25-14 and 25-16).

Christiansen paced the SHS offense with 14 kills and five aces. Balkan added 16 assists and four aces, and the Wolves were sharp from the service line, going 95-for-98.

“All season long we’d get ahead (and then let the team back in),” Webber Heilman said. “We kind of buckled down and we played more of our game.”

Haggerty had nine blocks in the win against Foster.

“That’s more than she’s had in the last half of the season,” Webber Heilman said. “That’s been something we’ve been working on.”

The Sequim victory set up a consolation final with Kingston, a team Sequim had played three times this season, twice in regular league play and once at the Olympic League tourney. In each case, the Buccaneers prevailed.

“Right away our blocking was better,” Webber Heilman said. “Defensively, we were playing really well.”

Sequim jumped out to a lead with a 25-21 win in the first set but dropped the second set by the same score.

The Bucs were hitting over Sydney Balkan on the right side, Webber Heilman noted, so she switched the Sequim setter with flip-flopped Jadyn Overby.

“They couldn’t hit down the line like they were doing (after that,” Webber Heilman said. “We adjusted our stuff to get a better block on them.”

Sequim won set three, 25-23, and set four 25-23 in a nail-biting finish.

Breckenridge had a team-high 10 kills, Balkan had 14 assists and Haggerty, Christiansen and Potts combined for 13 blocks. Bentz (24 digs) and Breckenridge (23 digs) led the Wolves’ defense.

“We had a different lineup every time (we played Kingston) but we finally pulled it together,” Webber Heilman said.

Nichole Day led the Bucs with 25 kills and 13 digs.

“It was pretty exciting,” the Sequim coach said. “It was fun because we had a good group of parents cheering for us. And we like playing them (Kingston) because they’re a nice team to play.”

On to state

Sequim goes up against Ellensburg to open the class 2A state tournament, set for Nov. 13-14 at St. Martin’s University in Lacey.

The winner of the match plays the winner of the North Kitsap-Anacortes match, while the losing squads of both matches play each other in a loser-out consolation match, also set for Nov. 13.

Webber Heilman said the goal for the Wolves at state is clear.

“We want to win at least one; that’s always our goal,” she said. “It’s really tough going over there and playing (but we) always want to play on Saturday.”

Webber Heilman said the Wolves’ season was “up and down” with multiple lineup changes, but that the adjustments paid off at the close of the district tournament.

“You want to be crying because you’re going (to state), not because you’re not going,” she said.