Prep volleyball: South Whidbey 3, Lakewood 2

Published 10:43 pm Thursday, September 15, 2011

MARYSVILLE — Linden Firethorne raised her game when it mattered most, firing five of her game-high 20 kills in the fifth set to keep her South Whidbey volleyball squad undefeated.

The Falcons edged Lakewood (0-3 league, 0-3 overall) 25-11, 19-25, 23-25, 27-25 and 15-8 in the Cascade Conference match. Firethorne was an integral part of the win as she added eight blocks to go with her 20 kills.

“You know I think it just came down to who wanted it more and who fought the hardest,” South Whidbey head coach Mandy Jones admitted.

After dominating the first set, the Falcons (3-0, 3-0) dropped the next two leaving them on the brink of defeat heading into the fourth.

Despite being a little complacent on offense according to Jones, South Whidbey beat back every Lakewood rally to take over momentum of the match with a 27-25 set win. One major key was senior libero Brittany Wood who finished with 18 digs in the match.

“Wood had some great digs in the back row (in the fourth set) and we handled a lot of free balls which boosted our team momentum,” Jones said.

The Falcons carried that momentum into the final set where they didn’t miss a serve and saw Firethorne dominate to cruise 15-8 en route to the victory.

“We went into the fifth set and the girls had all the confidence in the world,” added Jones.

Lakewood’s Kaylee Diggs had nine kills and 26 digs while Brittany Parmentier added 15 kills and 13 digs.