It was the kind of Saturday that South Puget Sound League 4A North volleyball teams would probably like to forget.

Of the five teams the North pitted against its South counterparts at the league tournament at Todd Beamer on Saturday — Kentwood, Kentridge, Kent-Meridian, Tahoma and Auburn Riverside — only one team escaped with a win: Auburn Riverside.

Tahoma lost to Graham-Kapowsin in the league title match. The Eagle swept the Bears in three games.

Coach Sally Eager said the loss was a combination of playing a tightly focused opponent while not having the typical play she gets from her team.

“We were doing fine but, we weren’t sharp,” Eager said. “They played to our weaknesses. They came after us. They were scrappy.”

Graham-Kapowsin managed to negate Tahoma’s power hitters senior Morgan Murrey and sophomore Rachelle Frets. Murrey tallied six kills while Frets had 11. Junior setter Miranda Grieser had 20 assists. All are below their season averages.

Kentwood fought back after Curtis took a two game lead in the match between the No. 2 seeds, but couldn’t put together enough of a comeback, losing 3-1.

For coach Bil Caillier, it was a frustrating loss.

“We passed and served below standard all night which leaves me to believe we faced a more disciplined team at those skills than ourselves,” said Caillier in an e-mail. “This lack of preparation and performance falls on me as the coach.”

Junior setter Kacie Seims had 41 assists for the Conquerors while Erin Campbell had 18 kills. Mikaela Ballou and Sarah Toeaina each tallied 10 kills and six assists for the match while libero Tess Manthou added 15 digs.

Kentwood heads into the West Central District tournament Friday and Saturday on its home court as the fourth seed out of the SPSL and will face Emerald Ridge, the lone SPSL South team to lose on Saturday.

Caillier said the team will have some introspection to do heading into the district tournament.

“There is nothing good that comes from losing like that,” he said. “Perhaps it allows us to ask ourselves if we are willing to sacrifice enough to improve. We either compete with good teams or we don’t and tonight we could not compete with Curtis.”

Tahoma will be the second seed into the district tournament and will play Kent-Meridian at noon on Friday, one of the teams it beat en route to a perfect league record, something that may have become a double-edged sword.

“We have to come out ready to play every single game,” Eager said. “People aren’t going to look past us. People are gunning for us. We’ll just have to come back… and fight hard.”

There are eight state tournament berths up for grabs at the West Central District tournament Friday and Saturday at Kentwood High. Matches begin at noon on Friday.