After winning three consecutive state volleyball championships, the Centralia Panthers came up just short of reaching the state tournament.

Following a one-year hiatus, the Panthers are back.

Centralia breezed through their home sub-state Saturday to punch their ticket to the Class 1A DI State Tournament.

After Jackson Heights was forced to drop out, the Panthers received the one seed and a bye in the opening round before making quick work of Onaga in the semifinals in two sets.

The Panthers rolled in the first set racing out to leads of 9-2 and 17-3 before scoring eight of the final nine points to win 25-6.

Set No. 2 was much closer with Onaga jumping out to a quick 6-4 lead before Centralia would score six straight points to lead 10-6.

The Panthers continued to hold the Buffaloes at length the rest of the way with Avery Deters and Raegan Becker each notching big kills to move Centralia to the finals with a 25-18 win.

On the other side of the bracket, Doniphan West reached the semifinals after a dominant win over Troy to create a matchup with Frankfort who received a bye in the first round.

D-West had beaten Frankfort twice in two sets already this season, but the Wildcats came out firing on all cylinders behind strong play from Mariah Broxterman and Emma Hardwick to take set one 25-23.

In the second set Frankfort looked like they were going to punch their ticket to the finals leading 12-7 midway through the set, but the Mustangs scored eight straight points to take a 15-13 advantage.

Frankfort responded tying the set up at 18 before D-West scored five of the final six points to force a third with a 25-22 win.

The third set was completely back-and-forth throughout with Frankfort actually having two match points at 24-22 and 24-23 before Doniphan West scored four straight to take the match 26-24.

In the championship Centralia took on D-West and after a back-and-forth start the Panthers got out to a 16-13 lead and were able to hold onto that lead to win the set 25-23.

After winning the first the Panthers were on the attack throughout the second jumping out to an 11-7 lead before leading 19-8 and rolling to a sub-state championship with a 25-14 win.

Centralia (23-10) with the win advances to the state tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday where they will travel to Lebo for a best of five match that is set to begin at 6 p.m.