Federal Way High School’s volleyball team was one game short of a state tournament play-in game last season. This year has been full of opportunities that Federal Way just hasn’t been able to capitalize on.

The Eagles took on the third team in the NPSL in the Kentlake Falcons on Oct. 27 and started off better than expected, but ended up falling to the Falcons, three sets to one.

Head Coach Brooks Tuilapea liked what he saw in the first set — an aggressive, focused volleyball team.

“I think we came out ready to play. Coming off a weekend with no practice and a Monday night, I think we were more ready to play than they were in the first set,” Tuilapea said.

Federal Way was coming off a non-league game with Puyallup where the opposing head coach and all four officials were family members of Tuilapea. Not only did Federal Way have a unique opportunity to play against a 4A team that is 10-3, but for Tuilapea, he had a unique opportunity personally.

“It was a battle. The score doesn’t tell the story. If you really watched the game, we went point for point with them. We hung in there and they just pulled away,” Tuilapea said.

Olivia Barrett goes for a spike against Kentlake. Ben Ray / The Mirror

Tuilapea also thought that Kentlake could have possibly overlooked Federal Way, especially since back on Sept. 25, the Falcons left with a win in four sets.

“I think they came in, since they had already beaten us in four. I know they came in easy minded, ‘Oh we got this in the bag, we have already won once.’ I think that is what happened in the first set,” Tuilapea said.

The Eagles led the entire first set after the first point, and used their serves to take a 15-10 lead in the middle of the first set. Even Kentlake Head Coach Shawna Behrens talked about the gritty play from Federal Way early on.

“They hustle and play really great defense. We knew it would be a pretty great matchup,” Behrens said. “Any chance in this league when we get a good matchup is when we can start turning the volume up.”

But what was working in the first set seemed to cease in sets two, three and four. Federal Way seemed to find some early momentum as they took leads through the first eight points in each of the three sets they lost.

But around the midway point, Kentlake found another gear and got their offense on the right track. Kentlake and Federal Way were tied at the tail end of the second set 21-21, and the Falcons went on a 4-0 run to even the match.

“In the second, third and fourth set we couldn’t stop their outsides. They are super young, those outsides, and super athletic. I tried to put my best matchup with them, but tonight just wasn’t our night,” Tuilapea said.

In set three, Federal Way cut the Kentlake lead to one, 16-15. Kentlake then scored nine out of the next 12 and won set three, 25-18. There were a couple of long delays due to calls on both sides of the floor from officials that frustrated both parties. Credit is due to both programs as neither side made a big deal over calls that didn’t go their way.

“I just tell them to control what they can control. We can’t control calls or the refs. We can voice our opinion. I will fight for you guys, but let me do that on the coaching side. You guys just play the game, next point mentality,” Tuilapea said.

The final set was close for the opening few points with the two sides tied at 7-7. Kentlake went on a run, as they had in every set besides the opener, and scored 6 of the next 8 points. Kentlake put the finishing touches on the fourth set with a 25-17 win.

Olivia Barrett (left) and Mikaela Madden (right) go for a block against Kentlake. Ben Ray / The Mirror

Federal Way looked good in spurts and that was fueled by Meilani Paige, a transfer from Thomas Jefferson High School. The junior’s confidence is growing night in and night out as the Eagles head toward the final week of the season. “The kid has big potential at playing at the next level. I am really nurturing what I need her to do because the attitude and body demeanor plays a big part. Coaches don’t want to see that. Coaches want to see you struggle and your reaction to it,” Tuilapea said.

Last year in Tuilapea’s first season, they began the season 0-4 and proceeded to finish with a 10-win season. This year, with three games remaining, the Eagles are expecting to be back in the postseason and make even more noise.

“This year I believe we have more talent than last year,” Tuilapea said.

Federal Way takes on Decatur, Enumclaw and Thomas Jefferson to close out the regular season. Decatur came to Federal Way and stole one from the Eagles back in September, so they are looking forward to returning the favor.

“We’ve seen the glimpses of where we can be, really we lost to a setter and a right side. We just messed up mentally and let them get in our heads,” Tuilapea said. “Everybody is healthy and ready to go, I am excited. Coach Kepa [Cummings] is doing a great job over there, I know him through club. We are looking forward to that matchup, and hopefully we can dish it right back in their house.”