The Shorewood High School volleyball team finished the regular season undefeated, but the Thunderbirds had to scrap for every point in a 3-1 win at Oak Harbor Wednesday, Oct. 28.
The loss snapped Oak Harbor’s four-match win streak and placed the Wildcats (7-5, 7-7) fifth in the final Western Conference 3A standings and as the sixth seed heading into the district tournament.
The first round of the eight-team, double-elimination tournament is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, when Oak Harbor challenges third-seeded Lynnwood (10-2, 11-3) at Stanwood. Second-seeded Stanwood (10-2, 10-4) and the No. 7 seed (yet to be determined) fill out Oak Harbor’s half of the bracket.
The two winners (7 p.m.) and two losers (5 p.m.) pair up for the second round Thursday, Nov. 5, at Stanwood.
The tournament concludes Saturday, Nov. 7, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
Lynnwood defeated Oak Harbor 3-1 (25-27, 25-18, 25-15, 25-18) Sept. 17.
Fifth-ranked Shorewood (12-0, 15-0) came to Oak Harbor to lock up its second-straight Wesco crown. In the Thunderbirds previous 14 matches, nine were shutouts and only one team (Lynnwood) took them to five games.
Shorewood knew it was going to be a tough night when Oak Harbor won the first set 25-20. The T-birds responded with 25-18, 25-21, 25-20 hard-fought wins.
In the first game, two kills from Claire Anderson and single kills by AnnaBelle Whitefoot, Hailee Blau and Geslyne Barreta helped Oak Harbor jump to an early lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Shorewood zipped to a 13-3 lead in the second set, then Oak Harbor trimmed the gap to four, 21-17, but couldn’t get closer.
The teams traded leads in the third and fourth games. Shorewood was up 21-19 in the third set and 21-20 in the fourth before pulling away late.
Overall, Oak Harbor coach Kerri Molitor was happy with her team’s play but lamented several unforced and communication errors that kept the Wildcats from putting more pressure on the T-birds.
Anderson paced Oak Harbor with 18 kills, two aces and 19 digs. Blau added 10 kills, and Janae Payne dished out 32 assists.
(From the top: Claire Anderson, Samantha Hines, Hailee Blau and Priya Osborne compete in Wednesday’s match with Shorewood. Photos by John Fisken.)
