Volleyball team shows character in five-match win

Published 10:48 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – After being swept last Thursday night by Liberty in round one of the Kingco Tournament, the Mount Si Wildcats volleyball team last Saturday faced off with Sammamish at Liberty High School with the season on the line. For the Wildcats, it was a battle for survival that was likely way more than they bargained for.

With Mount Si having lost four straight matches coming in, the Wildcats had to give it their all, and they did, outlasting Sammamish in a thrilling five-game match. Scores were 25-16, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25 and 16-14 as Mount Si advanced to the Sea-King District Tournament.

“I’m proud of them. That was a tough match and I told them this week, I said, ‘Winning is hard,’ and I said, ‘Sometimes you do it, and sometimes you don’t, and you don’t have a lot of control over what happens out there,” said Wildcats coach Bonnie Foote.

Serving was a big part of the victory, and senior Erin Caldwell led the way. She had five aces in the first game.

“When we served well, we were doing well, and that’s what was really important,” said Caldwell.

In addition to Caldwell’s efforts, Amanda Frost, Danielle Rehm, Faith Hutcherson and Xandy Evans also recorded service aces during the course of the contest.

Behind Caldwell’s strong serving, Mount Si built an 8-0 lead to open game one and maintained the lead the rest of the way in a crisp performance.

The Totems, though, had other ideas in game two. Although Mount Si built another huge lead to open the second stanza, Sammamish climbed back into the game as it went on, something that was a common theme throughout the match. Two aces by Totem Katie Fickel set up a game two victory for Sammamish.

The Wildcats again opened the third game with the lead and closed it out, despite a lengthy delay late in the frame that resulted in a point being awarded to Sammamish for a Mount Si rotation violation. The Wildcats blew out to a 6-0 lead in game four, only to have the Totems tie the stanza at 6-6. Another delay ensued, this time for water on the floor behind the court. Sammamish eventually took the lead following the delay and held on, despite five game points, to force a fifth and deciding game.

Mount Si took a 10-2 lead to open the deciding frame, but the Totems yet again rallied to make it close. Four aces by Sammamish’s Ali Stillwell keyed their rally. The Wildcats nursed the lead, but the Totems were able to tie, then get a match point at 14-13; however, they hit the ball out of bounds on that point, re-tying the game at 14-14. Faith Hutcherson came up to serve for Mount Si and after Sammamish hit the ball into the net and the Wildcats got a kill on their match point, Mount Si had survived.

“We don’t get many second chances in life, and I think we got a second chance today and I’m proud of them,” said Foote.

Rehm not only came up big on serve, she came up big on both offense and defense for the Wildcats.

“This is my first year playing on varsity, but it feels so great. It’s a lot different from playing JV; it’s a lot faster, but I love the intensity and we have a great team,” Rehm said.

Mount Si opens play in the Sea-King District Tournament as the No. 5 seed from Kingco. They will play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday night in a loser out match at Liberty against the Metro No. 4 team. Rehm made a promise for the upcoming games.

“We’re going to work very hard in all of our practices up until then, and we’re going to play absolutely our best. We’re going to make sure of it,” Rehm said.

If Mount Si survives Thursday, they would play Saturday at Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle, with games starting at 1 p.m. Admission to the games is $6 for adults.