The Oak Harbor High School volleyball team lost 3-2 at Marysville-Pilchuck Tuesday, Oct. 16, and finds itself in the middle of a scramble for one of the seven playoff spots.

Three teams (Edmonds-Woodway, Shorewood and Arlington) are tied for first with 6-1 records; five other teams, Oak Harbor among them, have three losses with four matches left. One of the eight is going to get bumped from the postseason.

The Wildcats finish with a favorable schedule, though they end the regular season at first-place Shorewood. The other three matches are against teams with a combined 3-18 league record.

Oak Harbor (5-3, 5-5) will try to get back into the win column when it hosts Marysville Getchell (0-7, 0-9) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21.

All three of the Wildcats’ league losses have been 3-2, two coming at the hands of current conference leaders Edmonds-Woodway and Arlington, showing the balance of talent in the Western Conference.

Marysville-Pilchuck (5-3, 7-3) stopped Oak Harbor twice this year 3-2, the first in a nonleague match Sept. 11.

The Tomahawks won 25-22, 22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9 Tuesday.

Coach Kerri Molitor called it a “tough night,” adding things “didn’t go our way.”

Claire Anderson had a monster night with 31 kills and 27 digs. She was helped in the offense by Amelia Berner with 12 kills and Hailee Blau with nine, as well as from the 29 assists of Hailey Beecher and the 28 assists from Natalie McVey.

Beecher also had 11 digs and three aces.

Priya Osborne chipped in with 20 digs; AnnaBelle Whitefoot had 15.