A sad end to an incredible season

Published 9:01 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

The two regular season meetings between Cedarcrest and Mount Si in Kingco 3A volleyball were both exciting, with each team winning once on their home floor. The match the two teams played last Saturday in the Kingco 3A tournament was just as exciting, as the Red Wolves took home Valley volleyball bragging rights for this year along with the final Kingco Conference berth to the Sea-King District Tournament, with a two-games-to-one victory over Mount Si (13-15, 15-6, 15-12) at Newport High School in Bellevue.

The Wildcat’s season is over but it was an incredible ride. Mount Si Coach Bonnie Foote, despite the loss, was upbeat.

“They played well, they played hard and I’m proud of them. They had a great season,” said the coach.

Game one opened with the Red Wolves blowing out to a quick 5-1 lead behind the play of senior Megan Townsend, sophomore Karly Regalia and junior Stephanie Hern. The Wildcats responded, and behind the strong service effort of junior Kristina Turple and a kill from Maggie Olson, took a 6-5 lead. The Wildcats built their lead to 12-6. Townsend and senior Stephaine Ayers’ strong play helped the Red Wolves climb back into the game, and Regalia’s ace tied the game at 12-12. Wildcat junior Jaclyn Boals hit a return out of bounds giving the Red Wolves a 13-12 lead. Turple came through like she has many times in the second half of the season, and her excellent clutch serving (with two aces in her sequence), lifted the Wildcats to victory. Turple’s second ace closed out the first game.

Game two started out with Mount Si getting a 2-0 lead, but the Red Wolves quickly came back and tied it at 2-2. The teams traded points for a while, then Ayers’ service play and a Regalia ace lifted the Red Wolves to a 7-4 lead. Turple then came back out to serve for Mount Si and came through in the clutch and along with a Boals kill, got the Wildcats to within one at 7-6 Red Wolves. Cedarcrest then scored the final eight points of the game and tied the match at 1-1. Sophomore Brittany Hinzman closed out the game with an ace, one of four in that 8-0 run.

With the teams tied at a game a piece, the stakes were high and both teams knew it, playing tight the whole third game.

Townsend and Hern’s strong front-court play lifted the Red Wolves to a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Emilie Aaltonen, another Wildcat that has come up big in key situations late in the season, came up big on serve and aided by a kill from sophomore Marissa Hill, got Mount Si into a 3-2 lead. The two teams traded points, then junior Maggie Olson’s strong serving lifted the Wildcats into a 6-3 lead. Cedarcrest, sensing the match and their season slipping away, called time-out and that proved to be important for them since the Red Wolves, after that time-out, behind the serving of Ayers and Regalia (with two aces in her sequence), came out and took a 7-6 lead.

Wildcat senior Alison Neuenschwander then came up strong on her serves, and aided by another Boals kill, the Wildcats took an 8-7 lead. The teams traded points, and Boals’ serving lifted Mount Si into a 11-9 lead, before the Red Wolves re-tied it at 11-11.

With the game tied, Cedarcrest spiked the ball just inside the back line to take the lead, and from there, despite one last effort from the Wildcats to tie, closed out the match. The Wildcats hit a return out of bounds on match point to give Cedarcrest the win, and the district seed.

This was a great rebuilding year for Mount Si. With only two seniors on the team, the Wildcats’ scrappy play kept them in most matches and gave teams a run for their money, finishing a strong second behind division champion Issaquah. For that, Foote was quite pleased.

“Definitely. I’m speechless. I didn’t know what to expect and it’s disappointing but I’m proud of them,” the coach said, adding that next year, the team will look to build off this successful year. “Got to keep building, keep growing, and hopefully, we’ll make it next year,” Foote said.