Wildcats win wild one with Eagles / Volleyball

It was not a match for the faint of heart.

The Oak Harbor High School volleyball team eked out a 3-2 win over visiting Arlington Thursday, Oct. 18, and moved into a tie for third place in the Western Conference standings with the Eagles.

The Wildcats won 26-28, 26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9 in a match played with playoff intensity before a roaring crowd.

From midway through the first game until the end of the fifth, only once did one of the teams hold a lead as large as four points in a battle of evenly matched teams.

Oak Harbor started the season with seven consecutive wins, then lost three of its next four matches.

Coach Kerri Molitor, seeking to jump start her club, made a change for the Arlington match, inserting Jaslin Webster into the starting lineup.

Webster helped the Wildcats defend the hard-hitting Eagles by producing 26 digs.

“As a team, they came in with an open mind,” Molitor said about the lineup switch. “They supported each other, and it showed on the court.”

Oak Harbor battled back from a 13-6 deficit in the first game to take a 20-18 lead.

Behind 17-12, the Wildcats received kills from Webster, Morgan Pease and Cami Bristow, a block from Payton Parks and a kill and three aces from Leielle Salinger to go up 20-18.

Oak Harbor held set point at 24-22 and 25-24 but couldn’t put away Arlington.

In the seesaw second set, Oak Harbor broke a 24-24 tie with a tip from Salinger and a block from Leah Quidachay.

The third game was also tight. With the score at 21-21, Oak Harbor finished on a 4-1 run on a pair of kills each from Bristow and Salinger.

The fourth set was yet another close game, and the teams were knotted at 23 until Arlington’s Arianna Bilby recorded two of her match-high 23 kills to secure the set for the Eagles.

Down 4-2 in the fifth game, Oak Harbor went on an eight-point run with Salinger serving. The junior middle fired three aces while Morgan Pease produced two kills and a block and Parks added a block and kill.

Arlington got to within three, 12-9, but Pease countered with a kill and ace to help Oak Harbor take the match.

For the night, Pease had 22 kills, five aces, four blocks and nine digs.

Salinger finished with 13 kills, seven aces and two blocks; Bristow added 10 kills, three aces and 24 digs; and Quidachay had 45 assists, four kills, three blocks and 11 digs.

Parks ended with three kills and five blocks, while Ceirra Dean recorded 27 digs and Maekaila Divinagracia had nine digs.

Oak Harbor (9-3) plays at Marysville Getchell (3-8) at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, and then finishes the regular season at home with Shorewood (5-6) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30.

Oak Harbor’s Morgan Pease, left, and Payton Parks block Arlington’s Arianna Bilby.(Photo by John Fisken)

Oak Harbor’s Morgan Pease, left, and Payton Parks block Arlington’s Arianna Bilby. (Photo by John Fisken)

Maekaila Divinagracia passes for Oak Harbor in the win over Arlington.(Photo by John Fisken)

Maekaila Divinagracia passes for Oak Harbor in the win over Arlington. (Photo by John Fisken)

Payton Parks leaps to serve in the Wildcat win.(Photo by John Fisken)

Payton Parks leaps to serve in the Wildcat win. (Photo by John Fisken)

Leah Quidachay (11) saves an errant pass with a tip.(Photo by John Fisken)

Leah Quidachay (11) saves an errant pass with a tip. (Photo by John Fisken)

Jaslin Webster serves in the Wildcats’ big win Thursday.(Photo by John Fisken)

Jaslin Webster serves in the Wildcats’ big win Thursday. (Photo by John Fisken)