The Siuslaw Vikings volleyball team's seniors came to be recognized Thursday night.

More than that, they came to play.

Senior middle blocker Elyssa Rose hammered a team-high 12 kills and senior outside hitter Claire Waggoner had a team-high 3 aces as the Vikings defeated the North Bend Bulldogs, 3-1, to clinch a share of the Far West League regular-season title.

Siuslaw won 27-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-16 to go to 8-2 in league, a half game better than Douglas.

Douglas at Marshfield was rescheduled for Monday because of threatening weather. Douglas needs to win to force a one-game playoff Tuesday for the league's top seed in the Oregon School Activities Association's Class 4A playoffs.

"The seniors were playing so well, I was jumping out of my seat," sophomore middle blocker Makenzie York said. "The seniors were just getting everything. It was their night, and they deserved it."

Four Vikings were honored on senior recognition night in a prematch ceremony, celebrating players and teammates and family with lots of flowers and even more balloons.

Setter Abby Watkins and outside hitter Brittany Long also were feted along with Rose and Waggoner.

"We have good seniors leaving, and we're definitely going to miss them," York said. "But we definitely have a lot of underclassmen coming up."

York, for instance, is only a sophomore. She contributed 10 kills and an intimidating presence in the front row.

Jon Hornung, the Vikings' first-year coach, was able to use most of his bench on a night Siuslaw needed to win.

"It took us a couple of games to adjust to what North Bend was doing," he said. "Once we did, we were able to mix the lineup up a little bit, and spread the offense around."

The four seniors — Long, Rose, Waggoner and Watkins — have been regular starters since the start of league, along with York and junior libero Maci Wells. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Long, Brittany's younger sister, completed Thursday's starting lineup.

Junior opposite Emma Collins is a big part of the rotation, and Hornung has gotten good play from sophomores McKenzie Colton at outside hitter, Alyssa Richards at outside hitter and Sami Scheer as a defensive specialist.

Then there's promising freshman Mia Collins, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter.

"We've mixed it up a little bit, even today, when we put Mia in there," Hornung said. "We have the ability to plug people in because of all the experience we had.

"We've had a couple of injuries. And there was a bug going around. It was like roulette, who was going to be gone any one day."

Thursday, the improving and healing Vikings got 10 kills from York and 7 from Brittany Long.

Rose and York had 4 blocks each to lead Siuslaw.

The Vikings made it hard on themselves in the first two sets. In the first, they went ahead 19-10, only to see the Bulldogs rally to tie the game at 20-20 and eventually take the lead at 25-24. Siuslaw pulled it out 25-25 on a York kill.

North Bend knotted the match at 1-1 in the second set, 25-23, the Bulldogs scoring the final two points on a Vikings mishit and a ball that just found the Siuslaw end line.

Then it was pretty much all Vikings.

The Vikings built a 13-7 lead in the fourth set, then blew away the Bulldogs with strong middle play led by Rose and York.

The win avenged a loss to North Bend in the first round of league play.

"When we played North Bend at North Bend, we just didn't have a good mindset," York said. "We were there physically but not mentally.

"Tonight, we had the crowd backing us. We came in with a great mindset, and we got the job done."