PR Sports

Rumor has it, the best way to pass a nine-hour bus ride home from Post Falls is to slip into a deep, sugar-induced euphoria before passing out.

The afterglow of winning a state title helps.

So sayeth the Bonneville Bees, who endured a nervous, 489-mile bus ride north, who slept through most of the return ride home and who won the 4A state volleyball title in between.

The rest was well-deserved. By sweeping Century in the title match, the Bees crossed off the final items on a mostly completed checklist of a 37-3 season:

1. Beat Sandpoint, which foiled Bonneville in the semis last year, and

2. Take home the right trophy. The blue one.

By winning the championship, the Bees let go of the self-applied pressure from a team satisfied by nothing less than a title.

“Oh my gosh, it’s a

relief,” said Bonneville’s do-everything outside hitter, Kylee Searle. “A relief, yes, but more of an accomplishment. It’s all we’ve wanted.”

The critical moment came in the semifinals against Sandpoint, as the Bees knew it would. Bonneville and Sandpoint had met in the finals for three straight seasons and won 10 out of the last 11 championships. The path for one inevitably led through the other.

Bonneville came out strong, winning the first two games 25-17, 25-16 to put Sandpoint on its heels. But the defending champs responded, taking the next two games 25-22, 25-19 to steal the momentum.

The Bees’ faces had turned from confident to tight. With an earful from coach Chantal McMurtrey that she can’t remember, the Bees regrouped.

“We were a little nervous, but we’ve been the heart-attack kids since we were in seventh grade,” libero Katie Harker said. “Chantal can vouch for that. For as long as we’ve played for her, we’d get down. But we don’t let it rattle us, and we always come back.”

They did. With the score tied at seven, outside hitter Mailie Garner threw down four straight kills. Despite losing a two-minute rally, the 7-7 tie turned into a 15-9 win.

After beating Sandpoint, Bonneville waited for the survivors in the losers’ bracket to pummel each other. Century played three matches, including a draining match against Sandpoint, before reaching Bonneville in the finals.

Still fresh, Bonneville swept Century, claimed its trophy and loaded the busses home.

That was the beginning of the end of the day for the Bees.

On a lurching bus, the Bees turned loose on all the unhealthy things forbidden during the season. Glee turned to discomfort, which turned to sleep.

“You top (the championship) off with all the Mountain Dew and all the candy you hadn’t had for three months, and they got bus-sick,” McMurtrey said. “They all passed out.”

One Bee remained awake. Unable to sleep but feeling nauseous, Harker climbed out of her seat near the back of the bus and moved to the front. There, Harker had a 3 a.m. chat with the bus driver while staring out the big front window to orient her stomach.

“I just sat and held the little trophy,” Harker said with her arms to her chest. “The blue one.”