It wasn't the way the Siuslaw Vikings girls volleyball team wanted to end its season, but then again it was.

Tuesday night the Vikings went down fighting in the 4A state playoffs, dropping a five-set match to Cottage Grove at Glenn Butler Court.

Freshman Lauren Witty served out the final eight points of the match as the Lions slipped away with a gritty 3-2 victory, 25-27, 25-20, 22-25, 26-24, 15-8.

Siuslaw ended its season 11-9, while Cottage Grove improved to 9-12, including a pair of victories this season over the Vikings. The Lions will move on to the first round of the Oregon School Activities Association playoffs on Saturday, travelling to top-ranked Banks.

"Even though we lost, I felt it was a good game to go out on," senior setter Hannah Bartlett said. "We fought all the way through."

Bartlett was one of four Viking seniors calling it a career, including exchange student Anna Minton, outside hitter Taylor Dotson and libero Ali Scheer.

Scheer was one of three starters unavailable due to injuries for an early-season match with the Lions in Grants Pass. Cottage Grove won that match 3-1 (25-13, 19-25, 25-19, 25-18). Junior middle blocker Elyssa Rose and junior outside hitter HannahLeah Jakobsen also were sidelined with injuries.

"They were missing players last time, and we noticed that coming in," Lions first-year coach Jason Corwin said. "We knew we were going to be in for a dogfight, and they played a really good match.

"They played in their system, which really caused a lot of problems for us. We were trying to make adjustments all match long. We were very fortunate to get Lauren's serving run at the end."

Witty's stretch of eight points on serve was the longest of the night, and drew the admiration of one of the Vikings' top servers, junior Claire Waggoner, who had 16 points on serve and two aces on the night.

"She was doing like a jump float, and those go really deep in the court, with a certain spin on them that are challenging to receive," Waggoner said.

"We're good passers, and we could have got to them, but we just sort of crumbled at the end."

Waggoner was like many of the underclassmen, disappointed at not delivering a win for the departing seniors in their final home match.

It was something Vikings coach Angie Herring addressed in a team huddle after the match.

"We all just spoke words of encouragement to our seniors, telling them what we appreciated about them," Herring said, visibly emotional.

"This was their last match on this court and we wanted them to know they gave it all, and they did. They did a really good job."

Scheer and Bartlett had some terrific defensive moments.

"Ali Scheer really played awesome," Herring said. "She dug up so many balls that we thought were going down. She was there so many times."

Bartlett had 25 assists and provided a steady, heady senior influence.

"Hannah was so encouraging on the court all the way through," Herring said. "She was just super steady."

Dotson, an outside hitter, also had a chance to rise and shine in her final match for the Vikings.

"Taylor, playing on the outside, played smart," Herring said. "She didn't get a lot of sets tonight, but she hit really smart and found holes on the court."

The underclassmen also came to play. Rose had 17 kills and 4 blocks, freshman middle blocker Makenzie York had 12 kills and sophomore outside hitter Emma Collins 7 kills, 8 assists, 3 blocks and a team-high hitting percentage of .385.

"Mackenzie York had her best match of the season," Herring said. "It was awesome to see."

Juniors Jakobsen, Rose, Waggoner and Abby Watkins, sophomores Collins and Maci Wells and freshmen Samantha Scheer and York will provide a solid nucleus for next season.

"I bonded a lot with my team this year. It was one of the closest teams I've been on," Bartlett said. "We got so much better during the season.

"They're all really great people, and I felt like it was a really good season."