‘Cats take third in league tourney, heading to district

Published 9:20 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

Mount Si worked hard to earn a spot in the district tournament, defeating Bellevue early in the week, then heading to the league tournament and defeating Skyline and Liberty.

In a hard-fought final match of the regular volleyball season in the KingCo Conference, Mount Si was tested by Bellevue before outlasting the Wolverines in three games, 15-13, 16-14 and 15-3, last Tuesday at Mount Si High School.

The match was the final home match for the Wildcat seniors, each of whom played critical roles in its outcome.

The first game was tight throughout the contest. Kristen Everett, Karin Brevik, and Stephanie Sales made contributions for Mount Si in the early going. But with the Wildcats leading 5-3, Bellevue went on a 7-0 run – much of it with Alison Lyons on serve- to give the Wolverines the lead, 10-5.

At this point, Wildcat Coach Bonnie Foote called for a time-out, which served to turn the tide for Mount Si. Alison Neuenschwander and Sales’ aces got Mount Si going on a 5-0 run that tied the game at 10-10. Lyndsey Hyatt made two critical plays to help the Wildcats on this run as well.

Bellevue retook the lead, but Sales, Everett, Brevik, and Jaymee Horstman contributed to the final Wildcat comeback, one that would see Mount Si win on a scoring play from Horstman.

The second game wasn’t much different from the first. Horstman and Sales provided the punch in the opening minutes. Andrea Bassett’s ace, however, kept Bellevue in it at 7-7.

It was tight the rest of the way, and the Wolverines weren’t going to go down without a fight. Maggie Olson joined Horstman and Brevik in providing the offense to get Mount Si to within one point of winning the second game.

Game-point attempt after game-point attempt ensued until the Wildcats thought they had it done on the sixth one, after Bellevue hit it into the net. The referees, after a several-minute delay, ruled that the Wildcats were out of rotation, and Bellevue had its second wind, which the team used to whittle away at the Mount Si lead until the two teams were tied at 14. Brevik’s scoring play ended the match for Mount Si with victory at 16-14.

The third game was all Wildcats, all the time. Sales, Hyatt, Horstman, Everett and Randilinn Cason powered Mount Si as the team jumped out to a 9-0 lead to put this set away early. Bellevue hit it out of bounds to end it, handing a three-game victory to the Wildcats.

Prior to the game, in special Senior Night ceremonies, seniors Everett, Sales, Horstman and Hyatt, all of whom were accompanied by their parents, each received a number of gifts, including flowers and cake. Various members of the junior varsity and “C” teams also made short speeches.

The win put the Wildcats in the league tournament to face Skyline who they easily defeated in three sets. Mount Si rallied from a 7-0 deficit to win the first game and pulled away for a 15-9, 11-15, 15-12 victory over Skyline. Stephanie Sales had 14 kills, including the match-clinching point, Lyndsey Hyatt added 17 digs and Kristen Everett had 27 assists. Jaymee Horstman had nine kills, three assists, one block and eight digs; Alison Neuenschwander had one ace, 11 digs and one assist; Karin Brevick had three blocks; Randilinn Cason had four kills, one dig and one assist.

The win put Mount Si squarely in the path of unbeaten Issaquah for the second round of the tournament. Unfortunately it only took two sets for the Indians to burst the Wildcats bubble. 15-12 and 15-5. The Wildcat’s effort was led by Sales again who had 10 kills and one assist. Everett recorded two kills and one assist and teammate Karin Brevick had two blocks. The loss put the Wildcats in the losers bracket against Liberty whom they easily defeated, 15-9 and 15-10.

The Wildcats earned the third seed to the district tournament to be held this week, at Mercer Island, game time is Thursday at 5 p.m.