Kills save marathon match
Published 7:00 am Saturday, October 5, 2002
It took a while and more than a few leaps for the floor, but when it was over, the ball was definitely in South Whidbey’s court.
Matched up against Blaine in Erikson Gymnasium Thursday night in their first North Cascades Conference meeting of the season, the Falcon volleyball team pulled out a win in an exhausting, five-game contest against Blaine. After failing to gain much momentum in the night’s first game and losing 13-15, the Falcons ground away to start an evening-long comeback.
The first two games of the night took more than an hour, wearing on players and fans alike. Rallies went on for minutes at times and aces were few, drawing games out as the Falcons and Borderites went point for point at stretches. In the second game, the South Whidbey girls managed to get an edge before evening the contest at 1-1 with a 15-7 win. Playing a more varied lineup than in some recent matches, Falcon coach Tim Durbin found success with Jordan Tobler, Jenny Murphy, Julie Robinson, Nici Eaton and Liz Norris, who did most of the front line duty and came up with 42 kills. Junior Katy McGillen added to the success of the formula, digging seven balls out of the middle to set up the front line and setter Brianna Hussey, who had 38 assists and 10 kills of her own.
The third game of the match was also close, with the Falcons taking it 15-11. They then lost the fourth game of the night before finishing the match with a 15-6 game win after more than two and a half hours of play.
Commenting on the match Friday morning, Coach Durbin’s tone was as worn down as everyone else who had been in the the gym the night before.
“Well it was an exciting one,” he said.
He went on to say that the South Whidbey girls proved they are in good shape and ready at any time to handle a lengthy matchup. He said communication among players was better against Blaine than in some recent matches.
South Whidbey’s is now 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the NCC. They return home for a game against Meridian next Thursday. Junior varsity play starts at 5:30 p.m., while the varsity game gets going at 7 p.m.
