SNOHOMISH — Snohomish and Lake Stevens are two teams expected to challenge for a Wesco 4A volleyball championship this season, so what better way to start the season than a match that pitted the two teams against each other.
Tuesday’s match, the first non-tournament match of the year for both teams, lived up to expectations. Snohomish rallied from down a set for a 3-2 victory over the Vikings. Set scores were 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 25-14 and 15-13.
The Panthers looked good in game one before the Vikings seized control of the match in the second and third games. Snohomish head coach Alex Tarin said his team wasn’t doing the things they had talked about before the match.
“I told the girls it’s all about serve and serve-receive,” Tarin said. “Those two things we did extremely poor in games two and three. We fought back. We were down by 10 points in game two and we fought back because we stopped serving the ball out of bounds and in the net and serve-received better.”
Though the second and third sets were close, the Vikings escaped with both and moved within one set of victory. With everything on the line, Snohomish listened to its coach and got back to the things that worked early in the match.
“In game four and game five I think we had a total of three missed serves and I think that was the biggest difference for us,” Tarin said.
Led by juniors Kyla Mellick and Jessica Brennis, along with senior Mackenzie Harris, the Panthers cruised to a 25-14 win over the Vikings in the fourth set to tie the match at two games a piece. It was the only set of the match that was decided by more than two points.
Mellick, Brennis and Harris combined for 54 kills for the Panthers.
“I love how well-balanced we are and that is what’s going to make us more difficult to beat throughout the year,” Tarin said. “You never know who we’re going to set or where (the ball) is going to go.”
Mellick, who played a key role on last year’s team that won a district championship and advanced to the 4A state tournament, led the Panthers’ attack, finishing with 22 kills, four aces and 17 digs.
“She’s definitely grown up since last year, her sophomore to junior year,” Tarin said. “This is her third year on varsity. I think last year, making a run at state and playing with those girls has really given her some experience to lead our team this year.”
Mellick, Brennis and Harris benefitted from the sets of senior Kendle Valade-Nunez. Valade-Nunez finished with 49 assists and added three blocks, six digs and two aces.
“She’s our top-setter and she knows exactly what’s going on out there,” Tarin said. “She’s our quarterback. I’ve talked to her a lot about who to set in the right moments and she’s doing a good job.”
After losing the first point of the fifth set, the Panthers responded with four straight to take a 4-1 lead. The Vikings made sure Snohomish didn’t run away with the final set the way it ran away with the fourth set, answering with three consecutive points of their own. Snohomish opened up a 13-9 lead later in the set, but the Vikings had one final run in them. They scored four of the next five points to cut the Panthers’ lead to 14-13, but could never overcome the Panthers.
Despite the loss, Lake Stevens coach Dawn Hanson was encouraged with the way her team played and its effort.
“Both teams played great,” Hanson said. “For our first match, we came out and did the things we needed to. I’m super-proud of my kids for not quitting and going all the way to five (sets). I’ll be excited to see (Snohomish) the second time around this season.”
Each of the Wesco 4A teams play each other twice during the regular season. The Panthers and Vikings meet again on Oct. 8 at Lake Stevens.
Tuesday’s match was the first league match of the year for both teams and the first match overall for the Vikings. Snohomish competed in a tournament this past weekend.
“Lake Stevens is going to be a totally different team, I feel, when we play them again,” Tarin said. “This is just (the Vikings’) first match of the whole entire year, we at least got to go to a tournament and work out some kinks.”
Though the Vikings hadn’t competed in a match before Tuesday, it didn’t seem to show as they came within one set of victory over Snohomish.
“They’re ready to go in league,” Tarin said of the Vikings. “I’m very impressed with their team. It’ll be interesting to see how they do this season. I think they’re going to be on the top though for sure.”
At Snohomish H.S.
Lake Stevens 23 25 25 14 13 — 2
Snohomish 25 23 23 25 15 — 3
Highlights—Lake Stevens: Kahlia Kelliher 14 kills; Natasha Valentine 16 digs, 6-for-6 serving; Megan Holman five blocks. Snohomish: Kendle Valade-Nunez 49 assists, three blocks, six digs, two aces; Jessica Brennis 12 kills, three aces; Mackenzie Harris 20 kills; Kyla Mellick 22 kills, four aces, 17 digs; Cyrene Hertzog 18 digs. Records—Lake Stevens 0-1 league, 0-1 overall. Snohomish 1-0, 1-0.
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