Prep volleyball: Marysville Pilchuck 3, Oak Harbor 2
Published 10:23 pm Thursday, September 11, 2014
OAK HARBOR — Freshman outside hitter Bailey Nelson had 25 kills to help Marysville Pilchuck fight off Oak Harbor in a five-set thriller on Thursday night.
The Tomahawks easily won the first set 25-14, but Oak Harbor rebounded to take the second and third sets and the lead in the match.
“We started out really rough and made a lot of errors,” Oak Harbor coach Kerri Molitor said. “We weren’t really prepared for how much faster Marysville Pilchuck is playing this year. It took a little while to get used to that, but we reduced our errors and got our offense going a little bit more to turn it around.”
Marysville-Pilchuck won the fourth set 25-22 to force a climactic fifth set, but Oak Harbor made a few errors early in the early going that snowballed and led to a 15-5 win for the Tomahawks.
Claire Anderson had 17 kills and 19 digs in a losing effort for Oak Harbor, and Natalie McVey and Hailey Beecher combined for 36 assists.
Molitor said that Anderson turned in that performance while under the weather.
“I was prepared not to play her at all, especially since we have a long weekend coming up in Yakima,” she said.
Oak Harbor will play at the SunDome Tournament over the weekend.
Nelson’s quick attack posed problems for the Wildcats all evening.
“She has a really fast approach and we didn’t block very well,” Molitor said. “She hit the holes in our block and she mixed it up with line shots and hitting across. She has a quick arm swing and before you know it she’s hitting. She was very good, but we put up a good fight and that’s all I can ask from them.”
At Oak Harbor H.S.
Marysville Pilchuck2522212515—3
Oak Harbor142525225—2
Highlights—Marysville Pilchuck:Bailey Nelson 25 kills, Kendal McCoy 32 digs, Courtney Fitzmaurice 35 assists. Oak Harbor—Claire Anderson 17 kills, 19 digs, three aces; Natalie McVey, 19 assists, Hailey Beecher 17 assists. Records—Marysville Pilchuck 1-0. Oak Harbor 0-2.
