It was fun, but it was painful.

The Oak Harbor High School volleyball team wasn’t able to pull off its second straight upset, losing a high-energy, highly entertaining district tournament match 3-2 at Stanwood Thursday, Nov. 5.

Oak Harbor, the tournament’s sixth seed, toppled third-seeded Lynnwood Tuesday but couldn’t take down second-seeded Stanwood.

Had Oak Harbor won, it would have secured a state tournament berth and a spot in the district championship game with Shorewood.

Now the Wildcats will have to win twice to nab the third and final District 1 berth to state.

Oak Harbor (8-8) takes on Glacier Peak (11-5) at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at Marysville-Pilchuck. The winner will face the winner of Lynnwood-Ferndale in the match for third place at 3 p.m.

Stanwood (12-4) defeated Oak Harbor 25-23, 17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-11.

The Wildcats trailed 22-16 in the first game, then with the help of kills by Claire Anderson and Annabelle Whitefoot and a block and ace by Janae Payne, Oak Harbor cut the margin to 24-23.

A Spartan kill, however, ended the Wildcats’ comeback bid.

Oak Harbor brushed aside the defeat and led throughout the second set. Kills by Anderson and Geslyne Barreta gave Oak Harbor an early lead, mid-game aces by Priya Osborne padded the lead and kills by Anderson and Hailee Blau wrapped it up.

The third game was tied at 16, then Oak Harbor went on a seven-point run to pull away. An ace by Osborne started the run and a kill by Barreta finished it.

After trailing 13-9 in the next set, Oak Harbor took an 18-17 lead. The Spartans then inched ahead and held on for the win.

In the final game, the score was knotted at 4 when Oak Harbor committed a series of errors that allowed the Spartans to go up 9-4.

With two starters playing while ill and another missing the final set because of a nose bleed, the Wildcats “just got tired,” coach Kerri Molitor said in regard to the letdown.

A block and kill by Anderson and a tip by Julie Jansen helped Oak Harbor slice the lead to 10-8, but the ‘Cats could get no closer.

“This is the most consistent we have played all year,” Molitor said. “It is a hard loss. I’m sure there will be a lot of ‘what ifs’ tonight when they think about the match.”

Oak Harbor played a strong defensive match as six different players recorded double-digit digs: Payne, 26; Whitefoot, 21; Anderson, 19; Osborne, 19; Barreta, 18; and Blau, 10.

Jansen put up four blocks, Anderson and Blau had 3.5 and Payne three.

Payne’s all-around strong evening also featured four aces, 43 assists and a kill.

Anderson had 20 kills, Blau 12, Barreta 10 and Whitefoot five.

Osborne finished with three aces.

(Left, from the top: Hailee Blau blasts a kill by a Stanwood block. Claire Anderson rises for a kill. Annabelle Whitefoot tips by a Spartan block. Photos by Jim Waller.)