The Mount Si Wildcats girls’ volleyball team tuned up for a huge week of upcoming matches by beating the Liberty Patriots in a three-game sweep last Thursday in Kingco 3A Conference home volleyball action. Scores were 25-20, 25-10 and 25-7.

“It was a team effort,” said the Wildcats’ senior middle blocker Amy Keogh. “I think everyone did really well, everyone contributed, everyone got a chance to get in there and play and it was really exciting.”

Mount Si blew out to the early lead in game one thanks to three service aces each by Keogh and junior middle blocker Marissa Hill. The Patriots tried to hold their own in the game, but Hill’s kills up front (she had five in game one, including two in the late stages) prevented a Liberty uprising.

With the score 17-10 Wildcats after a Liberty ace, Mount Si got a sideout on the ensuing Liberty serve, which started an 8-0 Wildcat run to close out the first game. With the score 24-10 Mount Si, and senior setter Maggie Olson serving for the Wildcats, Liberty middle blocker Hannah Orendorff hit the ball out of bounds on game point to seal the game for Mount Si.

The Patriots surprisingly had a 3-1 lead to open the second game before Mount Si turned on the engines. Senior setter Kristina Turple stepped up to serve with the Wildcats up 12-7, Mount Si began to pull away. Her two service aces keyed a short 3-1 run which ultimately put the game away for the Wildcats. Hill stepped up big again, with three more kills in the second game, all coming late, and with junior outside hitter Monia Cavazzoli on serve on game point with Mount Si up 24-10, sophomore middle blocker Erin Caldwell killed the ball to hand the Wildcats game two.

Three service aces by sophomore Katie Morgan helped Mount Si take a commanding 6-0 lead to open game three. However, Liberty sophomore Caitlin Swift responded with three service aces of her own, and the Patriots climbed back into the game.

That didn’t faze the Wildcats as junior libero Kayla Jayne came up with two service aces of her own, and had help from Hill again, and the Wildcats rolled back out to a 13-5 lead before Jayne and Mount Si lost the serve. Liberty had two more service opportunities, before Hill came up to serve for Mount Si with the Wildcats up 17-7. With the junior at the controls, she aced four more serves to key an 8-0 run which sealed the match for Mount Si. Her last ace of the third game was on match point; she finished with seven aces overall, in addition to all her key kills. Overall, the Wildcats’ serving was hot with eight servers combining for a total of 23 aces, led by Hill’s seven and Morgan’s five.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record