VB 2011-10-31 vs Everett and Ferndale

Half of the postseason District 1 tournament, featuring the top 3A teams from WESCO and the Northwest Conference was held at OHHS Monday, with the other half held at Glacier Peak HS.

At Glacier Peak, the Grizzlies beat Mt. Vernon 3-0 and Meadowdale beat Shorewood in the first round and in the second round it was Meadowdale 3, GP 1 and Mt. Vernon 3, Shorewood 1, leaving Meadowdale in first, Glacier Peak in 2nd and Mt. Vernon in 3rd.

At OHHS were Oak Harbor, Everett, Lynnwood and Ferndale.

In the first round, Lynnwood beat Ferndale 3-1. Oak Harbor faced Everett, at team they had beaten twice this year, including a 3-0 thumping just last week. That would not happen again Monday.

In game 1, the Wildcats built an early 7-2 lead, but Everett closed and tied the game at 10, then OH went on a 12-3 run to put the game away, winning 25-14. Game 2 was closer, with OH holding on to a small lead early, but the Seagulls tied the game at 8, then took the lead and built it with a 7-2 run and held on to win game two 25-17.

Game 3 was all Wildcats. We started with a 9-1 run and the closest Everett would get after that was 5 points, 22-17, but Oak Harbor took the last 3 points to win 25-17 and lead the match 2-1.

Game 4 was tied early at 9 each, but Oak Harbor quickly regained the lead and held it until late in the game, when OH had a 23-22 lead. A kill by Roshel Muzzall gave match point to the Wildcats, but an Everett kill and another point that went off the OH block tied the game at 24. Two Everett kills later the match was tied at 2-2, with Everett picking up game four 26-24.

In the 5th and deciding game, neither team had control, until Wildcat errors, along with an Everett kill and service ace put the Seagulls up 12-8 in the first-to-fifteen game. OH crawled back into the game with kills by Kayleigh Harper and Janine DeGuzman and a pair of Everett hitting errors tied the game at 12. Everett got the lead back when an OH player touched the net during play, then a hitting error gave match point to Everett, who completed their comeback with a service ace to win 15-12 and win the match 3-2.

In the Wildcat's second match, vs Ferndale, with elimination looming, the girls took care of business, dispatching the Golden Eagles 25-14, 25-19, 25-15.

In the final match, Lynnwood dominated Everett for most of the match, winning 3-1. Lynnwood will face Meadowdale Saturday for the District Championship.

Even though Glacier Peak was 2nd and OH was 3rd in their respective halves of the tournament, the Wildcats are the higher seed due to their regular season record, so the Grizzlies will travel to OHHS on Thursday, November 3rd at 7pm. in a loser-out match. The winner of the Everett-Mt. Vernon match, taking place at MVHS at the same time will play the winner of the OH/GP match on Saturday, Nov 5th at noon at Glacier Peak HS.

A complete bracket of the district tournament can be found HERE.

Video highlights from the Everett match are posted HERE.

Everett match photos are HERE

Ferndale match photos are HERE.

VB 2011-10-20 vs Glacier Peak

Last Thursday, October 20th, there was a massively important volleyball match in the OHHS gym, with Glacier Peak coming to town and home-court advantage in the upcoming playoffs on the line.

Starting over in the dome, the Freshman had a bad first game, losing 11-25. They recovered well, and posted 25-18, 25-22 in the final two games to win the match 2-1.

The JV won their first game easily, 25-16, struggled a bit in the second before pulling away to win 25-20. With the match won, Coach Swankie used the 3rd game to experiment with his lineup and while the girls played hard, fell 16-25.

In varsity action, Oak Harbor looked like a championship team, destroying the Grizzlies 25-9 in game one. The Wildcats came otu a bit flat in game two, falling behind 3-6 early, but quickly regained the lead and led 20-12 at one point. Kayleigh Harper served up an ace to end game two in favor of OH, 25-27. The Wildcats now led the match 2-0.

Game three was back and forth throughout until late, when 3 straight kills and a service ace put Glacier Peak up 24-22. A hitting error by the Wildcats ended the game 25-22 for GP, but the Wildcats still led 2-1.

Not ready to go home , Glacier Peak grabbed an early lead in game four, but never commanded the game, until late, with the score 21-17 in favor of GP. From there, an overpass kill, an ace and an error by the Wildcats led to game point for the Grizzlies. A kill by Glacier Peak ended the game 25-18 and tied the match at 2 games apiece.

In the decisive game five, Oak Harbor built a 7-3 lead on a big kill of an overpass by Kelsey Rankin, but GP fought back to tie the game at 7. A Roshel Muzzall tip put OH back on top 8-7 but a kill by GP tied it back up at 8. Another Muzzall tip gave the lead back to OH 9-8, and after a GP error and a Muzzall service ace, OH led 11-8. A big kill by DeGuzman coupled with a block by Rankin put our girls up 13-8. Harper put the game and match away with a dink just over the GP blockers. OH won game five 15-10 and the match 3-2.

The Wildcats travel to always noisy Everett Monday for their final regular season match, then return home on October 31st for the district playoffs.

Video highlights are HERE. They include Freshman, JV and varsity action.

Photos from all 3 teams are HERE.

VB 2011-10-10 vs Mountlake Terrace

Stinging from two straight losses last week, the Wildcats were ready for a rematch against the Mountlake Terrace Hawks Monday night at OHHS. Saturday at a tournament in Anacortes, the Wildcats went undefeated in pool play, but lost 2-1 in the opening round of bracket play to the Hawks.

Before the game, Coach Molitor took some time to recognize the 3 seniors on this years' team. Standing before the cheering home fans with their parents were Christina Alexander, Lizzy Chase and Janine DeGuzman. We wish them well.

Things looked good early in game one, with Oak Harbor taking a 6-1 lead, but Terrace crept back into the game, knotting the score at 20 then took at 23-21 lead. Our girls responded well, scoring 4 straight, ending with a Christina Alexander service ace and a Kayleigh Harper kill. OH wins game one 25-23.

In game two, the Wildcats again took a 6-1 lead, but MLT was back in it quickly, tying the score at 14. The two teams would be back and forth for a while until a pair of kills by Janine DeGuzman and a Roshel Muzzall service ace put the 'Cats ahead for good. Another kill by DeGuzman gave OH game point then a hitting error by the Hawks gave game two to OH, 25-18.

Game three was close throughout. With the score tied at 15, Oak Harbor started to pull away, increasing their lead to 4 points, 23-19. For the second time that night, a kill by DeGuzman put the Wildcats at game (and match) point, and this time she put it away with her 10th kill of the night. Game three to Oak Harbor 25-20 and the match to the Wildcats 3-0.

Wednesday the team travels to Lynnwood. The Wildcats are currently tied for 2nd with the Royals who lost 3-1 to Glacier Peak on Monday. Then the Wildcats host Glacier Peak, also part of the current 3-way tie for 2nd place in the last home match of the season on Monday, October 24th.

157 photos of Freshman, JV and Varsity action are posted HERE.

Video highlights of the varsity team only are HERE.

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.

VB 2011-09-27 vs Everett

The OH Volleyball team continued their win streak with an exciting 3-1 victory over the visiting Everett Seagulls last Tuesday.

Oak Harbor jumped to an early 8-3 lead but Everett crept back in, tying the first game at 15. The Wildcats started to pull away 22-18 and finished up winning 25-21. Game 2 started out even, and the 'Cats were down 8-10 at one point, but the girls gathered themselves and finished with a 8-3 run to win 25-17, In game 3, the Wildcat slipped a little and Everett picked up a 25-19 win. Game 4 was totally back-and-forth, with neither team ahead by more than 2 points until late in the game when Janine DeGuzman got hot. She pounded down 4 of the final 5 OH points (Kayleigh Harper got match point) as Oak Harbor won game 4 25-23.

The JV team was down big early, 10-4, but fought their way back into the game and won the first game 25-21. The also won game 2 25-19 to win the match. In game 3, Everett got a 25-22 win.

Over in the dome, the freshman lost a close game one 22-25, won game two 25-19 then fell in game three 15-25

A total of 162 photos are posted HERE. They include Freshman, JV and Varsity action, as well at Freshman and JV individual and group photos.

Video highlights from the freshman and Varsity matches are posted HERE.

Thursday night at Shorecrest, the Wildcat varsity got it done quickly, winning 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-15). Both the JV and Freshman teams won 2-1.

Next for the volleyball team is a trip to Shorewood on October 4th and at home against currently undefeated Meadowdale on Thursday the 6th.

VB 2011-09-20 vs Marysville-Getchell

Tuesday night was the first-ever meeting between the new Marysville-Getchell HS and the Oak Harbor Wildcats in volleyball. The MG team does not have a freshman team. Their JV team has one junior, two sophomores and the rest are freshmen.

Because of that, our JV team perhaps thought that the Charger JV team would be easy to beat, especially after the JV girls jumped to a 6-2 lead in game one. At that point, it looked like some complacency set in and quicker than it seemed, the Chargers were up 20-12. Not on good volleyball, but on unforced errors by the Wildcats. MG went on to win that first game 25-18. Our JV girls learned from that game, and in game 2 sprinted to a 10-1 lead on their way to a 25-12 game 2 victory. Game 3 was close early, until, with the Wildcats leading 12-7, Deanna Rueben served up 10 straight points, 8 of them service aces, leading the 'Cats to a 25-8 game 3 win and a 2-1 match win.

Game 1 of the varsity game was back and forth early, then OH opened a 10-6 lead and increased it to take game 1 25-10. Game 2 started with the Chargers up 4-0, then OH got back on track and took back the lead 7-6 then scored 4 straight to end game 2 25-17. In game 3 Oak Harbor jumped out to a 11-2 lead and never looked back, winning 25-13 and taking the match 3-0.

The VB girls are at Glacier Peak Thursday then return home Tuesday, Sept 27th to face the Everett Seagulls.

85 photos are posted HERE.

Video highlight clips are HERE.

Wildcat Volleyball at State

The OH Volleyball team started their state tournament run Friday against #2 seed West Valley of Yakima, and didn't do so well, falling 3-0 by game scores of 22-25, 19-25 and 16-25.

Starting the day Saturday morning at 9:30, they faced Holy Names of Seattle who lost in straight sets Friday to Kennedy HS, and the 'Cats kept their hopes alive with a 3-1 win.

They then played Bishop Blanchet of Seattle for a spot on the podium. Win the match against Blanchet and the Wildcats could finish the tournament in 5th place.

Blanchet won the first set and OH took the second, but Blanchet won the next two to eliminate Oak Harbor.

It was a great ride the the girls must be holding their heads high as the first Oak Harbor representatives to the volleyball state tournament in nearly 20 years.

Great job girls!

Volleyball state brackets

The complete bracket can be found HERE.

The girls start tournament play Friday, November 12th at 1:30pm at Toyota Center in Kennewick against West Valley (Yakima).

WHEN the girls defeat W. Valley, they will play the winner of the Holy Names/Kennedy match at 7:30pm Friday.

IF by chance they lose, the play the loser of the Holy Names/Kennedy match at 9:30am on Saturday, Nov 13th.

The championship match will be at 7:30pm on Nov 13th.

Volleyball 2010-11-03 WESCO 3A tournament

Half of the WESCO 3A volleyball state play-in bracket took place at OHHS last Wednesday. Four teams came to play - Oak Harbor, Glacier Peak, Ferndale and Everett, in a 2-match double elimination tournament. Of the 4 teams, one was guaranteed a trip to the first round of the state tournament.

In the field house, Ferndale defeated Everett 3-1 to meet the winner of the OH-GP match. Oak Harbor met and beat the Grizzlies twice this year, the last meeting just last week where the Wildcats swept the match 3-0.

That wasn't going to happen again. The first game was back and forth the entire way, with neither team ahead by more than 2 points and the game tied numerous times. In the end it was Glacier Peak with a block to win 25-23.

The score was reversed in game 2 with Roshel Muzzall getting the kill for the win.

The Wildcats went down 19-25 in game 3, coming back from 16-23 but never really getting their rhythm.

Down 2-1 and with their backs against the wall, Oak Harbor dug in, and after a slow start, grabbed a 10-9 lead on a Muzzall kill and building their lead to 24-15 after a Christina Alexander ace. Glacier Peak started to catch up but a kill by Janine DeGuzman put the game away 25-19.

In the final game, Oak Harbor spotted GP a 7-3 lead, but starting with a Kristine Bouchard solo block, the Wildcats chipped away with the freshman, Kayleigh Harper, tying the match at 11 with a kill. GP took the lead back 12-11, but a lift call and two hitting errors put the Wildcats at match point. Kelsey Terrazas-Cooley went back to the line to serve, the ball sailed across the net and was shanked to the side by the Grizzlies, giving OH at 15-12 win, a 3-2 match victory, a trip to the 2nd day of the tournament and a match against Ferndale in 15 minutes for a trip to state.

Oak Harbor fully expected to play against Everett for their 2nd match, so weren't fully prepared for Ferndale. The Wildcats were drained after the emotional match against Glacier Peak but fought hard. Game 1 was close early then Ferndale went on a 4-0 run to take a 15-10 lead then held game point at 24-18. Oak Harbor didn't go quietly, taking advantage of Ferndale errors to close it to 24-21, but that was it as Ferndale won the first game 25-21.

Game 2 was all Ferndale as the Golden Eagles built a commanding 21-9 lead and won the game 25-15.

In game 3, Ferndale held a 15-11 lead but a kill by Katelyn Bristow and a kill and ace by Muzzall closed the gap to 14-15, and later a kill and block by "Big Blue" Amanda Blau put the Wildcats ahead 19-18. Unfortunately it didn't last long as on the next play the Wildcats were uncharacteristically called for a double hit on the set. Ferndale then took the lead on an overpass kill and won 25-20, winning the match 3-0.

The Wildcats aren't out yet at they travel to Glacier Peak on Saturday to continue the tournament. The girls start at noon against Mt. Vernon, who lost to Shorewood and beat Mountlake Terrace. WHEN the girls win that match, the play the winner of the Glacier Peak/Shorewood match at 2pm, with the winner going to state.

A combined video clips with highlights from both matches are posted HERE, including Kelsey's match point service ace in the Glacier Peak match.

A total of 62 photos covering both matches are posted HERE.

Volleyball - week of October 25th

After securing a spot in the playoffs, the Wildcats still had two more matches to play - at home against Glacier Peak and on the road at Everett.

After emotional senior night introductions, the varsity team went to work and swept the Grizzlies 3-0. While our girls swept the match, the individual games were fairly close and OH never had a comfortable lead until late in each game. Game scores were 25-20, 25-16 and 25-21. Both JV and freshman squads won as well. JV scores were 25-13, 25-14 and 25-16. Freshman games were closer, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-22.

Freshman and Varsity video highlights from the GP match are HERE.

Click HERE for freshman photos

HERE are JV and varsity photos

Wednesday the girls were at Everett's gym - call "The Pit". It's a loud gym with obnoxious fans, but Oak Harbor worked through it. After losing the first game 21-25 the girls rallied to win games 2 and 3 25-14 and 25-22. They stumbled in the 4th 19-25 but came back in the final game. With the score at 14-12, senior Katelyn Bristow had the serve. After getting the ball across the net, Everett set up to give the ball to their big hitter, but the Wildcats were ready. As the Seagulls went up for the kill, the Wildcats went up with a double block and totally stuffed the hit to give game and match point to Oak Harbor.

Wednesday, November 3rd the girls play at 5pm at home in a rematch against Glacier Peak. At the same time Everett will be playing Ferndale. The two winners will play each other for playoff seeding while the two losing teams play in a loser-out match.

When the Wildcats win, they will then travel to Glacier Peak HS on Saturday, November 6th.