EDMONDS — Trailing 12-3 in the first set, it looked as if Edmonds-Woodway High School could be in for a long night in its volleyball match with Arlington.
However, like the Warriors have done all season, they battled back from adversity, rallying to win the first set and ultimately the match 3-1 over the Eagles. With the victory E-W earned a berth in the 3A state tournament and a spot in Saturday’s District 1 championship, where they will face Marysville Pilchuck.
“This is one of the mentally toughest teams I’ve coached,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Nicole Bordeaux Bordeaux said. “They have played like that kind of all year, where if they are kind of down or in a rut, somehow they manage to mentally just pick themselves out of it.”
The Warriors still trailed the Eagles 19-16 late in the first set, but scored nine of the final 10 points, capped by an ace from junior Amanda Paavola to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
“Hanna (Rehnfeldt), our libero, played phenomenal the entire match, but she really took control of that game, especially when we were down,” Bordeaux said. “Defensively, she played great.”
Rehnfeldt had 25 digs and three aces in the match.
The Warriors rode the momentum of the first-set victory and posted a wire-to-wire win in the second set. Once again, they capped off the set with an ace, this time by freshman Samantha Harden.
The Warriors went up 3-0 in the third set and looked as though they might be headed for a sweep of the Eagles. However, Arlington, led by senior Audrey Frolich, clawed its way back into the match. Frolich delivered kills on the Eagles’ final two points as her team won 25-21, forcing a fourth game and putting the pressure back on Edmonds-Woodway.
“Honestly, that’s kind of who we’ve become,” Arlington head coach Whitney Williams said of her team. “There (are) a lot of great teams in our league and everyone is kind of all over the place. You never know who’s actually going (to win). There’s a lot of ups and downs, but these girls don’t ever give up. They keep fighting and they keep fighting. I call them the comeback kids because we’ll get down so far and yet they get this burst of energy and are like, ‘We’re not done.’”
Frolich finished the match with 17 kills, 12 digs and one block.
Edmonds-Woodway trailed 19-16 in the fourth set, but just as the Warriors did facing the same deficit in the first set, they rallied to win. The Warriors’ first two set wins were closed out with an ace, so it was only fitting that sophomore Missy Peterson’s closed out the match with another one.
“When I got back to the line, I was a little nervous because I knew this was a big game,” Peterson said. “I was kind of thinking back there, aim to a spot, somewhere where you can get an ace or something. The first thing I thought is, ‘Wow, what if you get an ace.’ So I just threw it up and the first place I was aiming for is that spot, and luckily it hit right in the corner.”
Frolich appeared to think the ball was going to be out and let the ball go, but the ball was immediately signaled to be in and the Warriors began to celebrate.
“I was just in shock, to be honest,” Bordeaux said. “So was the entire gym, I think. It kind of felt like a moment of silence. What an incredible serve, deep corner and on the line. I was just so excited.
“For her, serving has been her struggle all year and that’s not really where she’s confident. Up until a couple of weeks ago she wasn’t serving at all. So this has been a new thing for her. As a sophomore, to get back on the line with match point and the winner goes to state, to put an ace down is huge and it just shows what kind of athlete she is.”
Paavola led Edmonds-Woodway with 14 kills, one block, eight digs and two aces. Peterson and senior Maddie Judd each added 10 kills.
“We don’t have just one hitter that we rely on,” Bordeaux said. “It’s nice that offensively as we’re rotating we constantly have a new hitter that we rely on and it’s never the same person. I think that kind of just shows who we are as a team.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
Arlington 20 15 25 23 — 1
Edmonds-Woodway 25 25 21 25 — 3
Highlights –Arlington: Audrey Frolich 17 kills, 12 digs, one block; Ally Peterson 28 assists, one kills, two aces; Jessie Landis four kills, three blocks. Edmonds-Woodway: Kelly Gootee 41 assists, two kills, four digs; Hanna Rehnfeldt 25 digs, three aces; Amanda Paavola 14 kills, one block, eight digs, two aces; Maddie Judd 10 kills, 1½ blocks; Missy Peterson 10 kills, ½ blocks, two digs, three aces. Records–Arlington 11-5, Edmonds-Woodway 12-4.
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