South Whidbey nets big turnout for invite

For the second straight week, Saturday witnessed school buses lining Maxwelton Road, this time as 15 schools from as far away as Omak, Chelan and Nooksack Valley came to the island for the South Whidbey Volleyball Invitational.

The main cafeteria was jammed as girls staked a place to stow their gear as they prepared for the all-day competition.

“You’d think with all this stuff we’d have everything, but we still forgot our cell phones,” groaned Cassie Stamms of Chelan High School.

The South Whidbey volleyball team had big hopes for the invitational.

“This a chance for our team to play at many different levels and gain some good experience,” Falcon Coach Tim Durbin said. “And we raise money for both the volleyball program and the athletic department.”

Falcon junior varsity coach Jenny Saephan explained, “All three teams in one of four pools play each other (two games to 25 points). The ranking is based on how many games were won and points made.”

With four teams playing on two courts, one would expect a degree of chaos.

It didn’t happen. Like clockwork, when the one game finished and a team departed the court, another arrived and play picked up immediately.

South Whidbey beat Omak 21-25, 25-12, 25-19 and Cascade 23-25, 26-24, 15-11 for the the 13th spot overall.

Standout performances included Jessi Eaton with 47 assists, Caitie Newman with 18 kills and seven aces, Sara Hicks added eight kills, 10 digs and five blocks, Marie Enell finished with nine kills and Courtney Dettrich had eight digs

Tonight, the team welcomes Cascade Conference rival Sultan, 7 p.m. in the main gym.

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