Volleyball: Sequim earns sweep of league foes

Two matches, two different challenges and two wins.

Sequim earned a pair of Olympic league wins last week, surviving a five-set thriller at Bainbridge before setting a team record for aces in a rout of Bremerton.

Overcoming some tough calls from the officials, Sequim rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat 3A Bainbridge on the road 3-2 (17-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-12, 15-11) on Sept. 27.

SHS coach Jennie Webber-Heilman said there were some double hits and carries by Bainbridge that weren’t getting called.

“It was nice they came back the way this did; they didn’t let it affect them,” she said.

“In the beginning, it was really rocky,” senior Jordan Kidd said.” Our team became unified ultimately and it helped us win the game. It was very exciting. It proves hard work pays off.”

Kendall Hastings had a huge match for the Wolves with 19 kills, five stuff blocks and nine digs. She also served 15-for-16 and had three aces.

“During the game, we definitely came together,” she said. “Each individual played a huge part to contributing to the team effort.”

Angel Wagner was 17-for-19 with five digs, while Kidd served 9-for-10.

Sydney Clark served 24-for-25 with five aces. She added 15 assists and seven digs. Jolene Vaara had eight assists, eight kills, seven digs and two blocks.

Arianna Stovall had four kills and two stuff blocks. Webber-Heilman said one of her blocks on Bainbridge’s big hitter “was pretty exciting.”

The win put Sequim into a tie for third place in the Olympic 2A League.

Two days later, Sequim set what Webber Heilman said could be a team record with 28 aces in a three-set win over Bremerton (25-8, 25-15, 25-10).

“We had 28 aces which might be a team record or tied with a team record, at least with side-out scoring,” she said. “There was a state tournament game against Selah back in 2002 that went five sets and I think we had 27 aces.”

Weber Heilman said the winless Knights didn’t offer much fight.

“I was curious and we only received 23 [Bremerton] serves in three games, they were missing serves and we got some runs with aces,” she said.

Stovall had a team-high 10 while Hastings had five and Clark, Kidd and Sydney Hegtvedt added three each.

Hastings had eight of the Wolves’ 11 kills and both blocks, while Vaara had five assists.

The Wolves recorded just seven digs against the outmatched Knights.

Coming up

Sequim was scheduled to play at Kingston on Oct. 4.

The Wolves host North Mason on Oct. 6 and play at the Capital Tournament in Olympia on Oct. 8.

Sequim hosts rival Port Angeles on Oct. 11 and plays at Olympic on Oct. 13.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Kendall Hastings hits a shot past Bremerton’s Cora Taylor in the Wolves’ three-set home win on Sept. 29.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Arianna Stovall, right, looks to hit past Bremerton’s Helene Rode in a three-set Sequim win on Sept. 29.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Kendall Hastings blocks a tip shot by Bremerton’s Helen Rode in the Wolves’ three-set home win on Sept. 29.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Sydney Clark looks to hit a shot past Bremerton’s Zariah Houston in the Wolves’ 3-0 win over the visiting Knights on Sept. 29.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim teammate celebrate a big block by senior Kendall Hastings (15) in a straight set win over Bremerton on Sept. 29.