Volleyball from Sep. 11th

The Wildcats hosted Burlington-Edison in a non-league match this past Thursday with mixed results.

In the field house, the freshman team won all three games, and from what I saw, serving was again a large part of their success.

The JV team also won their match, posting 25-10, 25-14, and 25-14 game scores. The JV girls opened game one by building a 3-0 lead before a service error and hitting error made it 3-2 for the 'Cats. The girls dug in, and behind 2 aces each by Kelly Pantoleon and Lauren Lewis, built the lead to 17-4. The girls got a little flat after that, letting B-E creep up a little, mostly again through hitting and service errors. With the score 20-10 OH, two kills by Lewis and two more aces by Pantoleon finished off game 1.

Game 2 started with a Heather Felps kill, but the early parts of this game were back and forth, and B-E stayed close, with the score 10-8 OH at one point. From there, the Wildcats tallied 5 straight points, including 3 aces. OH then let B-E back in the game with a service error and some mishandled B-E serves until the score was 15-12. The next 3 points all belonged to Jordan Faralan, the setter, who got a nice tap for a kill then two straight aces, then Felps had a nice block at the net to make the score 19-12 OH. The match ended with 4 straight OH points, 2 kills by Lewis, one by Janesa Ramos, and a tap across the net by Felps.

In game 3, B-E played hard in the beginning, holding a 6-4 lead at one point, and still holding close at mid-game, down 10-8. From there, B-E served OOB for a Wildcat point, Felps earned a point, and Kristine Bouchard added a nice kill to build a 13-8 Wildcat lead. With the score 17-12, OH went on another multi-point run, building the lead to 21-12 before another service error gave a point and sideout to the Tigers, but it wasn't enough as a final Lewis kill ended the match in favor of Oak Harbor.

Varsity was a hard-fought battle and exposed some weaknesses in the Wildcats. Starting game one, B-E, showing poise and teamwork, built a 6-0 lead before letting OH on the board with a hitting error. A flurry of kills, hitting errors let B-E maintain their lead, but following a service error by the Tigers, Jen Jansen had 2 nice back-to-back kills to close the score to 12-10 Burlington. Then a Jessica Muzzall kill and hitting errors by Burlington allowed the Wildcats to tie the game at 14. Kim Mowbray brought the 'Cats their first lead with a solo block in the center of the net, but B-E tied things back up with a dump set. The game continued in this back and forth manner until the score was tied at 25. Remember in high school volleyball, the first team to 25 wins, provided they are ahead by 2 points. The last two points were a Jansen kill and a really nice Devin Tanner ace, leaving OH with the 27-25 win.

Game 2 started out well, with a hard serve by setter Melany Cone falling untouched, but it was going to be Oak Harbor's only lead of the game. In what seemed like a continual stream of hitting and service errors by Oak Harbor let B-E build a lead of 7 at 19-12. The Wildcats were never really able to recover and went on to drop the game 25-20.

Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. In game 3, although Oak Harbor had a 1 or 2 point lead for most of the first half of the game, B-E tied it at 18, and allowed only 1 more OH point during the game, winning 25-19. At the end of game 3, the Burlington team looked strong, but hard as it is to say, our girls looked like a team that had already lost. They switched side of the net in a dispirited manner hanging their heads down.

Coach Molitor worked some of her magic, and in game 4, the girls built an early 3-0 lead, but again service and hitting errors, along with strong B-E play proved costly. B-E found a hole in the middle of the OH court, and on several occasions, instead of hitting the ball hard, 'dinked' it just over the defender's heads where it fell in an open spot for points.

Even with the loss, there were several high points. Jen Jansen scored 13 kills and 3 aces, Emily Meagher added two aces of her own, and Muzzall was a force at the net both offensively and defensively.

The volleyball team is in Yakima this weekend for a tournament at the Sun Dome.

Photos of Thursday's match can be found at http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/OakHarborSports/highschool/VB911BE

Video clips will be posted in the next day or two HERE