Seniors setters Hailey Beecher and Natalie McVey forced Oak Harbor High School volleyball coach Kerri Molitor to change her philosophy on the idea of the ideal lineup.

Molitor, in her 20-year career, always used just one primary setter. Changing setters during the rotations of every game is akin to a football coach switching quarterbacks each series.

Beecher and McVey are so similar in ability and each is too talented to sit on the bench, so Molitor amended her methods.

Teams generally settle on one setter. The time it takes hitters and a setter to develop the necessary timing to run an efficient attack is considerable; to develop that connection with two setters is rare. Beecher and McVey broke that mold.

“Individually, they are good setters,” Molitor said. “Together they give us one great setter.”

Molitor now hopes the matched pair can help Oak Harbor match its postseason performance of last year.

After an underachieving regular season in 2013, the Wildcats caught fire in the playoffs, finishing second in the district tournament and sixth at state, its best finish since 1988.

Oak Harbor (8-5) completed the regular season with a 3-0 win over first-place Shorewood Wednesday, Oct. 29. That win helped the Wildcats land in a three-way tie for second in the Wesco 3A standings.

This year’s postseason begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, when Oak Harbor faces Ferndale at Shorewood High School.

Three teams from the eight-team, double-elimination tournament will advance to the state meet.

For Oak Harbor to return to state, it will have to navigate through a difficult district tournament draw.

Ferndale, the only non-Wesco team in the tournament, is the pre-tournament favorite. The Golden Eagles are 11-3, only losing to the state’s third- and fourth-ranked 2A teams (Sehome and Burlington-Edison) and the state’s second-ranked 1A team (Lynden Christian).

In addition, sixth-ranked Ferndale is the defending district champ (it defeated Oak Harbor for the title) and returns almost its entire team.

The Golden Eagles also defeated Oak Harbor 3-1 in this fall’s season opener Sept. 9.

Also in the Wildcats’ bracket is Wesco champion and 10th-ranked Shorewood and Marysville-Pilchuck. Although M-P (8-5) finished below Oak Harbor in the Wesco standings, it topped the ‘Cats 3-2 twice this season.

The other half of the tournament includes Edmonds-Woodway (10-4), Arlington (10-4), Lynnwood (8-6) and Glacier Peak (7-7).

For Oak Harbor to succeed, it will lean on Beecher and McVey to direct the offensive attack.

The pair doesn’t mind sharing the setting duties; in fact, they said it is an advantage rotating out during the games.

Sitting out “gives you time to plan,” Beecher said. “It gives you a break and a chance to see the defenses and where the holes are.”

“It also helps us help each other,” McVey said. “We can give each other advice on where to set.”

Beecher and McVey expect the Wildcats to surpass last year’s postseason success, and not because this year’s team is physically superior. They like the emotional makeup of this season’s squad.

“We didn’t have good chemistry last year,” Beecher said. “There were moments when we didn’t like each other much. This year we don’t focus on the negative.”

“We finally realized,” McVey said, “that we needed to push aside all the cliques to win.”

Beecher emphasized the family feel on the team: “This is my favorite season in six years. We have a good relationship.”

“We will accept advice from each other,” McVey said. “We realized that is how we improve.”

Both pointed to Tuesday’s upset of Shorewood as an example of this year’s mental state.

The Wildcats blew a 10-point lead in one of the sets but recovered to win; last year’s team would have wilted, they said.

Now it’s on to district play. The Wildcats like how things are setting up.