SNOQUALMIE – Last Thursday night marked the first athletic contest to be played in the new gymnasium at Mount Si High School, and the Wildcat girls volleyball team was hoping for a grand performance.
Poor passing and great play by the Sammamish Totems, however, contributed to a much different result. Behind the strong play of seniors Alicia Pelton and Yuka Ohashi, the Totems defeated the Wildcats three games to one in the best-of-five match. Scores were 25-23, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-21 as Sammamish handed Mount Si its first Kingco 3A conference loss of the year.
“Well, our team came in really fired up with tons of energy, really excited for this match and I’m really proud of how tough they served, how well they passed and the energy they have on the court, and they just did a great job playing defense; being scrappy and not letting balls hit the floor. And if they play like that, we’re going to beat teams,” said Totems first-year coach Jessica Papell, who saw her team go to 2-0 with the win in Kingco 3A.
Wildcats coach Bonnie Foote was unhappy with her team’s effort, pointing out the team’s poor passing.
“We passed 16-percent perfect at a 1.2. To win in this game you need to be 50-percent perfect, give or take five,” she said. “If you can’t pass in this game, you can’t win in this game.”
The new gym has, among other things, a new floor, better lighting, new bleachers, a new weight room and trainer’s area and a third auxiliary gym. It also is connected to the main school building by a new hallway. Mount Si Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Greg Hart is pleased and hopes the community will notice.
“Our facility, if you look indoors and outdoors, is as good as any facility around,” Hart said.
Wildcat senior Alicia Elmore was also pleased with the new surroundings, but is hoping for better things from her team.
“The gym is excellent, much better than what we had last year coming in. Our lines are actually the right size; last year they weren’t and I think that since we’ve got the court, we need to do what we need to in this gym to get it done,” Elmore said.
Sammamish held the lead through much of the first game and Ohashi’s kill sealed it for the Totems. Sammamish and Mount Si played a tight game two with junior Faith Hutcherson’s service ace closing out the game in the Wildcats’ favor. In game three, Mount Si built a big lead, only to see the Totems go on a 8-0 run midway through the frame, a run which was keyed by three straight Pelton service aces. Sammamish closed out that game and the fourth one, as well. The Totems were pumped.
“It was a great effort. Our team just had a lot of momentum and we were ready for this,” Pelton said.
Foote vows fans will see a much different team very soon.
“You watch this team in three weeks from now and you’ll see a different team,” she said.
Mount Si takes care of Bellevue
In volleyball action last Tuesday, the Wildcats fought off Bellevue in game one and then cruised to a three-game sweep of the Wolverines at Bellevue High School. Scores were 26-24, 25-11 and 25-13.
