Pushing aside mistakes and handling tense situations, the Oak Harbor High School volleyball team stunned visiting Glacier Peak 3-2 Thursday, Oct. 1.

The Grizzlies came to Oak Harbor with a 5-1 record, but the 2-4 Wildcats sent them back to Snohomish with a loss: 25-23, 19-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-10.

After Oak Harbor squeaked out a win in the first game, Glacier Peak used strong finishes to take the next two.

The Wildcats trailed by seven points (18-11) in the second set but rallied to within one, 20-19, before the Grizzlies closed out the game with a 5-0 run.

Oak Harbor held a small lead throughout the third game, then GP, down 23-20, again finished with a 5-0 run to win.

The Wildcats reversed the trend in the fourth and fifth sets. They built a six-point gap (18-12) in the fourth game and then hung on as the Grizzlies came back, tying the game at 20. This time Oak Harbor controlled the finish with the help of two Claire Anderson kills.

Glacier Peak scored the first point in the decisive fifth game, then Oak Harbor took over, going up 11-6.

The Grizzlies trimmed the margin to two, 11-9, then the Wildcats put the match away behind an ace by AnnaBelle Whitefoot and a kill from Anderson.

With the win, Oak Harbor (3-2, 3-4) jumped into a four-way tie for third place in the tightly bunch Western Conference standings.

Wildcat coach Kerri Molitor said more disciplined play led to the team’s success this week. (Oak Harbor blanked Meadowdale Tuesday.)

“To be honest,” she added, “I’m don’t know what is going to spark them. It is up to them.

“We had a lot of unforced errors tonight, but we fought through it and didn’t get down.”

Anderson ended the evening with 17 kills, five digs and two blocks; Janae Payne had 35 assists and 14 digs; Geslyne Barreta finished with two kills, two aces and 14 digs; Hailee Blau added nine kills and six blocks; and Priya Osborne had 13 digs.

Oak Harbor goes to Stanwood (3-2, 3-4) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6.

(Left, Janae Payne sets for the Wildcats. Below, the Oak Harbor crowd signals match point. Photos by John Fisken.)