With its season on the brink, the Oak Harbor High School volleyball team rallied for an improbable 3-2 win over Shorewood in an elimination game in the district tournament at Shorewood High School Tuesday, Nov. 4.

The Wildcats (10-6) now face Arlington (11-5) at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in another loser-out game.

Third-seeded Arlington defeated the fourth-seeded Wildcats 3-2 Sept. 22 during conference play.

If Oak Harbor defeats the Eagles Thursday, it will play at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at Marysville-Pilchuck against the winner of Ferndale-Glacier Peak for third place and a berth in the state tournament.

Oak Harbor’s 3-2 win over Shorewood was a stunner. First, the Thunderbirds won the first two games (25-19, 25-21) and held match-point (24-23) in the third before the Wildcats eked out a 26-24 win.

After being one point from having its season come to an end, Oak Harbor squeezed out a 25-23 win in game four and then wrapped up the match with a 15-12 win in the fifth set.

Second, it was the first five-set win for Oak Harbor this season after losing the previous four.

Third, the Thunderbirds were the regular-season Wesco 3A champions and the tournament’s top seed.

And finally, Oak Harbor pulled off the upset on Shorewood’s home court.

“The girls played as a team,” coach Kerri Molitor said after the match, expressing the key to the Wildcats’ victory.

Molitor liked the all-around play of Claire Anderson and the work of setters Natalie McVey and Hailey Beecher.

She also acknowledged the contributions of young Hailee Blau: “My freshman had to pick it up quickly, and she got frustrated at times, but she has progressed all season.”

Before learning that Arlington would be Oak Harbor’s next opponent, Molitor said she wasn’t concerned about who the Wildcats would play because “they are all good” and “we just need to worry about what we need to do.”

Shorewood’s attack bothered Oak Harbor in the early games.

“Our blocking had been decent throughout the season, but, for some reason, we had trouble tonight,” Molitor said.

The T-birds thumped their way to any early lead in the first set, then Oak Harbor worked its way to a 17-17 tie. From there, Shorewood regained its rhythm and finished on an 8-2 run for the win.

In the second set, Oak Harbor sabotaged its chances by committing seven service errors. It rallied from five down to trim the lead to one, 18-17, but couldn’t catch the T-birds.

The Wildcats led most of the third set, pushing the margin to five several times.

With Oak Harbor ahead 20-15, Shorewood battled back and took a 24-23 lead. Instead of folding under the pressure of giving up the lead and seeing its season come to an end, the Wildcats rallied.

A block by Blau and a pair of aces from Geslyne Barreta enabled Oak Harbor to take the win.

Oak Harbor also build a five-point lead in the fourth game and then saw it, once again, disappear. The Thunderbirds tied the set at 21 and again at 23.

At that point, a pair of kills by Anderson sent the match into a fifth game.

After trailing 2-1, Oak Harbor took a lead it would never relinquish. It led 14-10 when Shorewood tallied twice, but a pair of Anderson kills finished off the Thunderbirds.

In all, Anderson peppered Shorewood for 32 kills; she also had two aces, 22 digs and 1.5 blocks.

Blau (11 kills) and Amelia Berner (10 kills) aided Anderson on offense as Beecher handed out 35 assists and setting partner Natalie McVey 24.

Beecher also had two aces and seven digs.

Defensively, Priya Osborne had 21 digs and Barreta 20.