Tahoma seems to like to play five-game volleyball matches lately.

The Bears lost 3-2 to then no. 3 ranked Graham-Kapowsin right before starting league play, then put away Kentwood 3-2 in a back and forth battle on Sept. 15 and followed that up with a 3-2 win at home over Kentlake on Tuesday.

A year ago there were eight seniors on a squad that made it to state for the first time since 1977 but this year’s Bear volleyball team may be even better than that group.

“At this point last year, we weren’t as good,” said senior outside hitter Morgan Murrey. “We’re trying to do our best in the league.”

Initially, it appeared Kentlake wasn’t going to be much of a problem for Tahoma, as the Bears won the first two games easily.

In the third game Tahoma may have gotten a little cocky, explained Coach Sally Eager, and let Kentlake back in the match when communication on the court broke down.

“Part of it was confidence,” Eager said. “There’s a line between confidence and overconfidence.”

Kentlake took the third and fourth games back, forcing a decisive fifth, and Tahoma looked like it was in for a letdown as the Falcons, led by outside hitter Kristen O’Connell, tried to keep the comeback going.

A series of miscues, missed plays and some deceptive tips bye Kentlake had the game even at 9-9.

“We just didn’t play our game like we should’ve,” Murrey said. “We pulled it together in time.”

It was Murrey’s ace at 9-9 that turned the tide for the Bears in the fifth game as they outscored the Falcons 6-2, who struggled to put the ball away down the stretch, allowing Tahoma to take advantage of their errors.

Murrey put it away with a decisive kill, though, for Tahoma to win the match.

Six days earlier, the atmosphere in the Tahoma gym was quite different, as the Bears took on the Conquerors from Kentwood in the first South Puget Sound League North division match.

It was a battle from the outset with the squads trading leads in the first game, which Kentwood won 25-17, but then Tahoma dominated in the second game as its top hitters Murrey and Rachelle Frets took turns putting away the ball.

The Conquerors started out scoring the first two points of game two, including an ace from Mikaela Ballou, but then Frets and Murrey started pounding the ball while setter Miranda Grieser served up three aces to help the Bears score six straight points en route to a 25-18 win.

But the battle continued as the lead changed hands numerous times in game three as Ballou for Kentwood and Frets for Tahoma traded kills. The Conks held off the Bears taking game three 25-22.

It was late in the fourth game that the tide turned for Tahoma. After Sarah Toeiana put the ball away to tie it up at 15-15, Murrey responded for the Bears with a pair of kills, including one through a pair of Kentwood blockers that put Tahoma up 19-15.

Toeiana tried to pull the Conks back into the game single handedly with five consecutive aces to put Kentwood up 22-21 but the Bears turned them back on three straight Murrey kills to send the match into a decisive fifth game.

Mikayla Melton served an ace for Tahoma to make it 5-4 and the squad never looked back, winning the final game 15-11.

Murrey racked up 22 kills while Frets collected 17 for Tahoma in the win over Kentwood.

Tahoma stands at 2-0 in SPSL North play and 4-3 overall.

Kentwood, meanwhile, beat Thomas Jefferson 3-0 on Tuesday, moving its record to 1-1 in league play and 5-3 overall. Campbell had seven kills in that match while Toeiana racked up seven aces against Jefferson. The Conquerors take on the Rams from Mount Rainier on Thursday, after the Reporter’s press deadline.

Next up for Tahoma is Kent-Meridian, which as of Tuesday was 1-1 in league after a loss to Auburn Riverside and 4-2 overall, and the Bears aren’t taking the Royals lightly.

“We need to have more focus,” Murrey said. “We need to keep our composure, play our style.”

Eager said her squad will also need to play better together.

“We have to clean up our errors,” Eager said. “We have to serve. We have to pass. It’s a mental thing.”