When the seeds were released for the 2B State Volleyball Tournament last week, it would be understandable for the Raymond Seagulls to feel slighted.

Having lost just one game to a 2B opponent, the Seagulls were knocked off a spot in the WIAA RPI top three that they had occupied throughout the season, all the way down to seventh.

After winning their first-round game then dispatching of the state’s second-ranked team in the quarterfinal round, Raymond let it be known that they are one of the state’s top teams.

The seventh-seeded Seagulls defeated No. 10 Lind-Ritzville/Sprague in a first-round game Thursday morning and followed that up with a four-set victory over No. 2 Colfax in the afternoon to advance to the final four of the semifinals of the tournament.

Raymond got 20 kills, 21 digs, five aces and four blocks from senior outside hitter and the current Pacific League MVP, Kyra Gardner, in a 25-21, 25-18, 23-25 and 25-23 first-round victory over Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Thursday morning at the Yakima SunDome.

Gardner had plenty of help as well-rounded Raymond got big-game contributions from senior Sidney Swogger (19 digs, 17 assists, 3 kills, 2 aces), freshman Karsyn Freeman (9 kills, 16 digs) and Caton Swogger (4 kills, 5 blocks).

Sophomore libero Kyndal Koski led Raymond’s defensive effort with a game-high 34 digs and Grace Busenius (4 kills, 3 aces) made a momentum-shifting block to swing the tide for the Seagulls.

ERIC TRENT | THE CHRONICLE Raymond’s Kyndal Koski (1), Sidney Swogger (12) and Kyra Gardner celebrate a point in a 3-1 victory over Lind-Ritzville/Sprague in the first round of the WIAA 2B State Volleyball Tournament on Thursday in Yakima.

The victory slotted Raymond (18-2 overall) into the state quarterfinals, and a matchup against No.2 seed Colfax (8-2) Thursday afternoon.

Facing a Bulldogs team that featured four players over 5-foot-10, including two 6-footers, it was Gardner that once again rose above the competition.

Gardner was dominant in the quarterfinal round with 31 kills, 16 digs, three aces and two blocks as Raymond pulled off the upset 23-25, 26-24, 25-17 and 25-23, coming back from down 8-3 in the final set to secure a spot in the semis.

“They were trees,” Raymond head coach Bob Swogger said of Colfax’s height. “Kyra went over and around them.”

Freeman also had a huge impact for the Seagulls, recording a double-double with 15 kills and 23 digs.

“For a freshman who has a lot of pressure on her, I couldn’t ask for more,” Coach Swogger said. “She had a great night for us. She relaxed a little bit and had some big swings and big moments for us.”

Busenius added six kills with Caton Swogger and Alia Enlow coming up big on the defensive end for Raymond with four and six blocks, respectively.

“Now that we are playing some teams that can hit, they are doing some pretty amazing things,” Coach Swogger said of his daughter Caton and Enlow, adding their quick reads led to Raymond shutting down one of Colfax’s main offensive plays. “We just got there and shut it down soon enough so it wasn’t a weapon for them.”

Senior Izzy Silvernail also made major contributions in the victory, recording 24 assists and utilizing a strong serve the keep the Bulldogs out of system, sending a lot of free balls back Raymond’s way.

Swogger said his team’s ability to play out of system and clean up its service game were key to advancing.

“We had too many errors, which made some games close (in the first round),” he said. “We cleaned up the service errors a lot against Colfax. We served aggressive, which kept both teams out of system the whole day. … We’re pretty good at improvising and creating offense when not perfect. We were a better out of system team than the two teams we played today.”

Raymond, which has never finished better than third in the state tournament (Class B, 1989), now has a chance to make school history with a win over No. 6 Walla Walla Academy in the semifinal round at 9:45 a.m. Friday.

Now in his 11th season as head coach, Swogger is taking a “we have nothing to lose, let’s swing for the fences” approach.

“We made it here, we have nothing to lose, so let it fly and let’s go for it,” he said before offering the motto that has helped the team make it to the final four.”W.I.N. — what’s important now. If you make a mistake move on from it and have a positive mindset.”

Other scores

1B State Tournament

No. 14 Willapa Valley 3, No. 19 Sound Christian Academy 0

No. 3 St. John-Endicott/LaCross 3, No. 14 Willapa Valley 0