Heck, the Panthers could have even been satisfied coming away with a victory in their state debut, locking that up with a 25-14, 23-25, 25-23 win over Holcomb in Friday’s second pool play match at the Bicentennial Center.

Instead, the Panthers wanted more. And they got it.

With a berth in Saturday’s semifinals on the line, Royal Valley refused to let its state-tournament experience end. After dropping the first game with TMP-Marian, 25-16, the Panthers were models of resiliency, pulling out gut-wrenching, hair-pulling, stomach-churning 27-25, 29-27 wins in the last two games to stay in Salina another day.

“That was a lot of fun,” Royal Valley senior Hannah Beam said. “It’s such an amazing experience. It was very nerve-wracking, but I knew we could do it.”

In Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal, Royal Valley (25-15) will take on top-seeded Clay Center (39-5), which cruised to a 3-0 mark in its pool without dropping a game. The other semifinal pits Baldwin (30-11), which won Royal Valley’s pool, against Iola (25-15), which advanced on a tiebreaker after finishing in a three-way tie with Nickerson and Girard.

After falling to Baldwin, 25-14, 25-15, to start the day, Royal Valley was in danger of falling to 0-2 when Holcomb claimed a 23-22 lead in the decisive third game of their match. But Sarah Beam pounded three straight kills to end the match and set up a winner-moves-on showdown with TMP-Marian.

Things didn’t look good when the Panthers dropped the first game 25-16 and even worse when they fell behind 21-16 in the second. Instead of settling for a pretty nice state debut, Royal Valley rallied and forced a third game.

“We were up and down those first two games and just could never get anything going,” Royal Valley coach Denise Visocsky said. “I just told them to relax and have fun and it started to just finally click.”

The Panthers seemed in control after two kills from Hannah Beam and two blocks from Anna Johnson helped break a 12-all tie and seemingly put Royal Valley in control. But after a timeout, TMP stormed back and scored the next eight points to take a 23-20 lead.

A rotation error halted the run, however, and that was the break Royal Valley needed to regroup. A kill from Macy Putnam and combo block from Putnam and Kate Hanson tied the game, and a block from Hannah Beam gave Royal Valley match point.

Putting away the Monarchs was difficult, though, and the Panthers not only couldn’t deliver on three match points, they saw a kill from Deonna Wellbrock and a hitting error put TMP up 27-26. With the season on the brink, Royal Valley had one final answer and a kill from Hannah Beam, combo block from Johnson and Sarah Beam sent Hannah Beam to the service line and her ace ended the match.

“Get it over,” Beam said about what was going through her mind on the final serve.

“They really dug deep and played with confidence,” Visocsky said. “They were believing in everybody out on the court. It’s huge being able to go on to (Saturday), no matter what happens. After how they played today, never giving up, it’s huge for our program. It’s a big step from where Royal Valley has been and where we can go.”

Clay Center made its first state trip last year and went 1-2, but the experience gained a year ago paid dividends this time around as the Tigers made short work of their three pool opponents.

After routing Nickerson, 25-11, 25-10, to open the day, Clay Center handled Iola, 25-13, 25-14. The Tigers got down early and had to rally past Girard, but claimed a 27-25, 25-20 win.

“I think having been here last year was incredibly big,” Clay Center coach Robert Moran said. “To walk out there and not have those first-time jitters like we did last year was huge.”

Baldwin only had one minor hiccup on its way to a 3-0 pool showing as well, needing three games to get past TMP-Marian, 25-18, 22-25, 25-11. The Bulldogs finished the pool with a 25-20, 25-12 win over Holcomb, finishing strong in their first state appearance since 2003.

“It’s our first time in 11 years so our girls had no idea what it was going to be like,” Baldwin coach Jill Brown said. “We had one set where we were a little off, but we came back and took care of the third one pretty easily. ... I thought we came out and set the tone early and played really well.”

 CLASS 4A DIVISION II

At Bicentennial Center, Salina

POOL I

Clay Center def. Nickerson, 25-11, 25-10; Iola def. Girard, 25-13, 25-19; Clay Center def. Iola, 25-13, 25-14; Girard def. Nickerson, 18-25, 25-22, 25-19; Nickerson def. Iola, 27-25, 25-27, 25-23; Clay Center def. Girard, 27-25, 25-20.

POOL II

TMP-Marian def. Iola, 25-17, 25-22; Baldwin def. Royal Valley, 25-14, 25-15; Royal Valley def. Holcomb, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23; Baldwin def. TMP-Marian, 25-18, 22-25, 25-11; Royal Valley def. TMP-Marian, 16-25, 27-25, 29-27; Baldwin def. Holcomb, 25-20, 25-12.

Semifinal pairings Saturday

10 a.m. — Clay Center (39-5) vs. Royal Valley (25-15); Baldwin (30-11) vs. Iola (25-15). Championship and third place, 20 minutes after last semifinal concludes.