What surprised Oak Harbor volleyball coach Kerri Molitor most about the Wildcats’ 3-0 loss to Lake Stevens here Tuesday wasn’t that her team was defeated, but how easily it fell.
Molitor said that the Wesco North has one dominate team, Monroe, and that the others are similar in talent. She said that she believed her team could defeat Lake Stevens, and, if not, it would be a close loss. It wasn’t.
The Vikings won 25-19, 25-16, 25-18. Oak Harbor led only twice all night, going up 1-0 in the second and third games. A 6-6 tie in the first game was the deepest the Wildcats managed a tie in any set. Lake Stevens steadily and convincingly pulled away each game.
Both clubs are small, defensive-minded teams, but the Vikings put together a superior offensive effort.
Molitor said her club was plagued by two problems: nerves and the lack of an offense.
Molitor rhetorically asked, “Goals are a good thing, right?” She added, “When we see we aren’t achieving our goals in a game, the girls get so tense.”
The inability to mount any consistent offensive threat has bugged the Wildcats all season. Against the Vikings, Oak Harbor received glimpses of a hard-hitting attack from Marisa Southerland and Devin Tanner, but the Wildcats too often settled for tips or free balls at the offensive end.
Molitor tried to spark her team by trying different combinations of players, and shifted between starting setter Melany Cone and Jordan Faralan, but nothing seemed to get Oak Harbor rolling offensively.
Molitor said she made some changes because “the players got a little too comfortable in our (regular) lineup.”
Sutherland finished the game with 11 kills.
The Wildcats did put in another exceptional defensive effort, scooping up 79 digs, a strong number for three games. Kelsey Terrazas-Cooley led the way with 32.
Oak Harbor is now 0-2 in league and 2-6 overall. Lake Stevens is 1-2 and 4-4.
Oak Harbor hosts Arlington (0-2, 2-6) Thursday at 7 p.m. The match will be at North Whidbey Middle School because the OHHS gym will be unavailable because of parent conferences.
