VB 2011-10-06 vs Meadowdale

It was a big night in the Oak Harbor gym Thursday night when the Wildcat volleyball team took on the Meadowdale Mavericks for two reasons. First, it was breast cancer awareness night, with both varsity teams in pink jerseys. Also, both teams came into the contest with just one league loss, so sole possession of first place in WESCO 3A was on the line.

The freshman team lost their first two games but won the third to finish the night 1-2.

JV game was was tight early, but Oak Harbor errors let Meadowdale take a 14-10 lead. A pair of kills by Olivia Hunt put OH back up 17-16. Hunt got two more points later, along with Ashley Johnston and freshman Amelia Berner to bring OH from a 20-21 deficit to game point. A service error by the Mav gave the first game to the Wildcats 25-22.

In game 2, Coach Swankie was forced to call an early timeout, with the score 4-4, to try and re-focus the team, but quicker than they realized, the girls found themselves down 18-11. Service aces by Johnston and Hannah Christensen helped close the gap to just two points, 21-19. A hitting error by Meadowdale and a Christensen kill then tied the game at 21. Meadowdale then scored 3 straight to hold game point, 24-21. Two Maverick errors made it 24-23 and forced Meadowdale to call a timeout. Right after the timeout, Deanna Ruben scored the tying point with a service ace and a block by Christensen put the Wildcats at match point, 25-24. A Wildcat service error followed by a hitting error reversed the teams, but Christensen tied the game yet again with a kill, but a pair of OH hitting errors gave Meadowdale a 28-26 win, tying the match 1-1.

Oak Harbor trailed most of game 3, but kills by Johnston and Christensen put Oak Harbor ahead for good, 18-17. With the score 21-18 Meadowdale called a timeout, but two kills by Hunt made it 23-18, Peyton Craven put one down to give Oak Harbor match point, then Hannah Christensen put the game away with a service ace.

The JV match was a good setup for the main event.

Varsity game one was close early, with neither team able to get more than a 3 point lead until Oak Harbor got ahead by four, 20-16, forcing a Meadowdale timeout. After the timeout, Roshel Muzzall served up an ace and 5 foot 2 inch Janine DeGuzman added a pair of kills to make it 23-18. The Wildcats faltered a bit, letting Meadowdale tie the game at 23, then the Mavs grabbed game point, 25-24 but a back-row kill by 4-11 Christina Alexander tied it at 25. Meadowdale again had game point 26-25 and again Alexander got a back row kill. Finally, with the score now at 27-27, kills by Kelsey Rankin and DeGuzman gave game 1 to Oak Harbor, 29-27.

On a high from the important first-game win, the Wildcats, with Hannah Salmons on the service line, reeled off 9 straight points and held at least a 9-point lead for the rest of game two. DeGuzman got a kill for game point, 24-11, and another kill to win the game 25-13. Oak Harbor looked in control, leading the best-of-five match 2-0.

Game 3. Oak Harbor led early, but Meadowdale came back to tie the game 8-8, then slowly pulled ahead, leading 17-13. The Mavs went on a 5-0 run to build their lead to 22-13, and put the 'Cats away with a 25-14 game 3 win.

Game 4. Wow. This was another back-and-forth game and was tied 14-14 when Meadowdale found their groove and went on a 10-3 run and holding game point 24-17. Muzzall got a big kill and seemed to spark the 'Cats, but they fell 25-18, tying the match 2-2.

The final game was also a nailbiter. Oak Harbor led 5-3 early, but Meadowdale refused to give in and took an 8-5 lead. The Mavs would continue to hold at least 2-point advantage, leading 10-8, but served up 4 straight to give them match point, 14-8. Now it was Oak Harbor's turn to dig in and they closed the gap to 14-11, but a big kill by Meadowdale finished the 'Cats 15-11. Meadowdale wins the match 3-2.

The next home volleyball match is Monday night, October 10th vs Mountlake Terrace, then a match on the road Wednesday against Lynnwood.

131 photos of JV and Varsity action, including varsity intros, are posted HERE.

Video highlights are HERE.