Oak Harbor prevails
Published 12:01 am Thursday, October 13, 2011
BOTHELL — The handshake line after Wednesday’s second-place volleyball battle between Lynnwood and Oak Harbor was full of relief on one side of the net and tears on the other.
The relief went to the Wildcats and the tears to the Royals as Oak Harbor rallied for a 3-2 victory (25-21, 19-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9) on Lynnwood’s home floor in a Wesco 3A match played with playoff intensity.
“I thought that it was a fantastic match,” Lynnwood coach Jean Kellogg said. “I’m sorry that we were on the losing side, but I thought both teams played very well.”
Kellogg wasn’t surprised by her team’s emotion in absorbing a tough loss after a roller coaster night.
“It hurts when you give everything and you come up on the losing side,” the Royals coach said. “That’s just normal. Tonight either team could have won.”
Lynnwood took a 2-1 advantage on the strength of Arianna Garcia, who recorded a season-high 21 kills. Time after time, the senior outside hitter found holes in the Wildcats’ defense, pounding home the consistent sets from Jennifer Tsuiji. Lynnwood’s senior setter also recorded a season high with 57 assists.
But the Royals unraveled in the fourth set, falling behind 9-1 thanks to six hitting errors. Oak Harbor’s Roshel Muzzall had a team-high 19 kills and wasn’t surprised that her team dug itself a hole or that they rallied out of it.
“We were nervous, but we’ve done it before,” Muzzall said. “We can always comeback. We are usually the underdogs. We know we can come back and win.”
Kellogg was surprised that her team lost its momentum after taking over in the second and third sets.
“Sometimes you play not to lose and I think that’s what happened,” Kellogg said. “I had to give them permission to be aggressive again. They kind of eased up.”
The Royals recovered their aggression, but not in time to save the fourth game. The fifth set saw no team take more than a one-point edge until Oak Harbor’s Kayleigh Harper pounded home one of her nine kills to make the score 9-7.
The 6-foot-2 middle blocker, nicknamed “Sticks” by JV coach Rick Swankie because she is rail thin, played her best in the first and last sets and it was no coincidence that the Wildcats took both sets.
“She’s been a little tentative lately,” Oak Harbor coach Kerri Molitor said. “We are trying to get her back playing aggressive all the time. She’s a sophomore and she’s does a really good job, but we kind of expect her to play like a senior instead of remembering she’s a sophomore.”
Harper had five kills in the first set and ended up with a game-high six total blocks, including what seemed like a deathblow that put Oak Harbor up 11-8 in the final set.
“I just knew we needed a point,” Harper said with a smile.
“Sticks” iced the game with an ace and the Wildcats erupted, singing their fight song on the court.
The loss drops Lynnwood from a tie for second to fourth and holds Oak Harbor steady in a tie with Glacier Peak, which also won Wednesday. The Wildcats are aiming for their second consecutive trip to the 3A state tournament and feel good about their chances since they will play host to the District 1 tournament if they can pull ahead of the Grizzlies in the standings
“We’d really like to play at our own districts instead of travel,” Molitor said.
The Wildcats host the Grizzlies on Monday in the second-to-last game of the regular season.
