It was a gritty battle, but the Oak Harbor High School volleyball team won its third straight match and all but wrapped up a district tournament berth by defeating visiting Everett 3-1 Thursday, Oct. 22.

The Wildcats (6-4, 6-6) sit alone in fifth place with two matches left in the Wesco season. Seven teams qualify for the playoffs.

Oak Harbor is a half-game behind fourth-place Glacier Peak and holds the tie-breaker with the Grizzlies. The Wildcats also have the tie-breaking edge over three of the four teams that are directly below them in the standings.

Oak Harbor’s final two matches are against teams at the opposite ends of the Wesco standings. The Wildcats go to Mountlake Terrace (0-10, 0-12) at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, and then entertain first-place Shorewood (10-0, 13-0) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.

The district tournament begins Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Everett (3-7, 4-9) needed to defeat Oak Harbor to keep its slim tournament hopes alive, and the scrappy Seagulls challenged every point.

The Wildcats prevailed 28-26, 21-25, 25-21, 25-14.

Oak Harbor raced to a 15-6 lead in the first game, then Everett eventually evened the set at 23 before the Wildcats recovered behind kills by Claire Anderson and AnnaBelle Whitefoot.

Oak Harbor held a slight lead throughout the first half of the second set, and once again Everett rallied. This time the Seagulls took the game. Down 18-15, Everett finished on a 10-3 run to secure the win.

Everett took a 10-8 lead in the next game, then Oak Harbor freshman Camryn Bristow blistered the Seagulls with five consecutive aces.

From there, the Wildcats led by as much as seven, 19-12. The Seagulls trimmed the lead to 23-20 before Anderson’s two kills helped Oak Harbor hang on.

With the fourth game tied at 4, Oak Harbor pulled away and finished the match with an 11-2 run.

Anderson registered 16 kills, a block and 10 digs; Janae Payne had 45 assists and 10 digs; Hailee Blau posted 12 kills and three blocks; Whitefoot added 10 kills and 20 digs; and Geslyne Barreta finished with seven kills and 20 digs.

Wildcat coach Kerri Molitor liked the resilience of her club and how it responded to Everett’s rallies: “We didn’t give up.”

She was also frustrated by the up-and-down play of the Wildcats: “We dominated the first game and then let them back in it. We have fantastic plays, sometimes, so we know the potential is there to play at that level.”

(Left: Priya Osborne smacks a back-row hit. Middle: Coach Kerri Molitor makes a point at a timeout. Bottom: Janae Payne scores on a tip. Photos by John Fisken.)