It was looking grim for the Oak Harbor volleyball team Thursday, but it rallied twice to come from behind and defeat Arlington 3-2 at North Whidbey Middle School.

Oak Harbor came in the week with a reasonable shot at picking up two wins. It had two teams at home that sported similar records and seemingly similar talent as the Wildcats. However, Lake Stevens dumped Oak Harbor Tuesday, putting more pressure on the ‘Cats to knock of the Eagles and stay within striking distance of a playoff spot.

The split lifted the Wildcats’ league record to 1-2 and 3-5 for the season. Arlington is 0-3 and 2-7. Lake Stevens is 2-1, 5-4.

Against Arlington, Oak Harbor won the first game 25-23. The next two games were eerily similar to the Lake Stevens match as the Wildcats never led and fell 21-25 and 18-25.

Life was looking bleak when the Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth game, but Oak Harbor went on a 10-2 run to go up 14-6 and cruised to the victory.

Oak Harbor trailed almost the entire final game, once by as much as four (6-10), before it started to creep back in. The Wildcats finally tied it 13-13. With Emily Meagher serving, the ‘Cats picked up the final two points, the last on a Sutherland tip, to win it.

Sutherland finished with 11 kills. Kristine Bouchard added 10 and Tanner seven.

Terrazas-Cooley had three aces and 22 digs, and Bristow pitched in with 19 digs. Melany Cone handed out 23 assists, and Jordan Faralan had 17.

Molitor said the emphasis was to leave all distractions at the door and focus only on volleyball once the team hit the floor. With the match – and possibly a playoff spot — on the line, the players responded to the pressure and rallied for the win.