Meadowdale comes back to win battle for conference lead | Volleyball

Letting a chance to take over first in the Wesco 3A volleyball standings slip through its net, Oak Harbor saw visiting Meadowdale overcome a 2-0 deficit to nip the Wildcats 3-2 Thursday, Oct. 6.

The fourth-ranked Mavericks (6-1, 8-1) came into the contest a half-game up on the Wildcats and left town with a firmer grip on the conference lead.

Oak Harbor dropped to third in the standings behind Meadowdale and Lynnwood (5-1, 7-1). The Wildcats host Mountlake Terrace (3-2, 4-3) Monday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. and then go to Lynnwood Wednesday.

Oak Harbor appeared to have the Meadowdale match under control by winning a 29-27 thriller in the first game and then cruising to a 25-13 win in the second.

The Mavericks bounced back by winning the next three sets 25-14, 25-18, 15-11.

In game one, five kills by Kayleigh Harper helped Oak Harbor jump to an early lead, then a kill, ace and block by Roshel Muzzall put the Wildcats up 21-16.

Meadowdale recovered to tie it at 23. From there, a back-row kill by Christina Alexander and kills from Kelsey Rankin and Janine DeGuzman helped pull out the exciting win.

Thanks to six Meadowdale mistakes, Oak Harbor raced to a 7-0 lead in game two and was never challenged.

In game three, the Mavericks rediscovered their offense and broke away from an 8-8 tie with nine kills to finish off the 'Cats.

Game four was tied at 14, then Meadowdale went on a 5-1 run to pull away.

Up 3-2 in game five, Oak Harbor had a rotation error which seemed to knock it out of sync. Muzzall's kill made it 8-6 Meadowdale, and from that point Oak Harbor would not record another kill while the Mavs rang up six.

Oak Harbor's passing, which was excellent early, "got a little shaky" coach Kerri Molitor said, "and that affected our hitting" as the match wore on.

"We aren't mentally tough right now," Molitor said.

DeGuzman finished the evening with 12 kills, and Harper had 11 and Muzzall nine.

Taylor Nienhuis handed out 38 assists.

Defensively, Alexander collected 27 digs, DeGuzman 24 and Muzzall 20.

The fourth-ranked Mavericks (6-1, 8-1) came into the contest a half-game up on the Wildcats and left town with a firmer grip on the conference lead.

Oak Harbor dropped to third in the standings behind Meadowdale and Lynnwood (5-1, 7-1). The Wildcats host Mountlake Terrace (3-2, 4-3) Monday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. and then go to Lynnwood Wednesday.

Oak Harbor appeared to have the Meadowdale match under control by winning a 29-27 thriller in the first game and then cruising to a 25-13 win in the second.

The Mavericks bounced back by winning the next three sets 25-14, 25-18, 15-11.

In game one, five kills by Kayleigh Harper helped Oak Harbor jump to an early lead, then a kill, ace and block by Roshel Muzzall put the Wildcats up 21-16.

Meadowdale recovered to tie it at 23. From there, a back-row kill by Christina Alexander and kills from Kelsey Rankin and Janine DeGuzman helped pull out the exciting win.

Thanks to six Meadowdale mistakes, Oak Harbor raced to a 7-0 lead in game two and was never challenged.

In game three, the Mavericks rediscovered their offense and broke away from an 8-8 tie with nine kills to finish off the 'Cats.

Game four was tied at 14, then Meadowdale went on a 5-1 run to pull away.

Up 3-2 in game five, Oak Harbor had a rotation error which seemed to knock it out of sync. Muzzall's kill made it 8-6 Meadowdale, and from that point Oak Harbor would not record another kill while the Mavs rang up six.

Oak Harbor's passing, which was excellent early, "got a little shaky" coach Kerri Molitor said, "and that affected our hitting" as the match wore on.

"We aren't mentally tough right now," Molitor said.

DeGuzman finished the evening with 12 kills, and Harper had 11 and Muzzall nine.

Taylor Nienhuis handed out 38 assists.

Defensively, Alexander collected 27 digs, DeGuzman 24 and Muzzall 20.

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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