Sequim’s Wolves started their league season with a win, beating Olympic Peninsula rival Port Angeles at home 25-15, 25-18, 25-18 on Sept. 6.

“We were serving really well and tough until the third game,” Sequim coach Jennie Webber-Heilman said.

The Wolves had 14 aces serving. Kalli Wiker led the way, serving 15 for 15 with four aces and 20 assists. Jayla Julmist was 18 for 20 serving with six aces.

Tayler Breckenridge had a solid all-around match, serving 18 for 19 with two aces and hammering 13 kills while digging out 14 shots. Libero Isabelle Dennis had 19 digs for the Wolves.

“One of our focuses (this season) is passing — it was OK, but we can do better,” Webber-Heilman said.

The Sequim coach said she changed the Wolves’ lineup between the season-opening jamboree and this match, and that her team adjusted well.

Part of that, she said, comes from having eight players returning from last season, along with key contributions from each of the team’s three senior captains: high energy from Arlene Law, defense from Dennis and experience from Breckenridge.

Port Angeles coach Christine Halberg said she was impressed with the effort from her team.

“The girls played hard tonight,” she said. “They made some adjustment from Tuesday’s scrimmage which were improvements. We had a couple slow starts and some good late comebacks, which was really good to see that they didn’t give up at any time.”

Jamboree opener

Sequim’s Wolves started their season with two wins at its season-opening volleyball jamboree on Sept. 4.

The Wolves beat Port Townsend 25-7, 25-8, 25-14 and Port Angeles 25-17, 25-9, 26-24.

In jamborees, the matches do not count toward a team’s standings.

“The important thing right off the bat is that we’re pretty scrappy,” Webber-Heilman said. In the match against the Roughriders, Port Angeles had a 23-20 lead in Game 3 but the Wolves were able to fight back to pull that game and match out.

In the two matches combined, Wiker served 28-for-28 with 10 aces while Dennis served 26-for-26 with five aces. Breckenridge had nine aces.

Breckenridge and Dennis each had 10 digs, while Bobbi Sparks had eight. Against Port Angeles alone, Breckenridge tallied 20 kills.

Looking ahead

Sequim was scheduled to play at Bremerton on Sept. 11 — results were not available at press time.

The Wolves host Olympic on Sept. 13 and Blaine, a non-league foe, on Sept. 15. Sequim is at Klahowya on Sept. 17 and take on defending league champ North Kitsap in Poulsbo on Sept. 18.

Peninsula Daily News reporter Michael Carman added to this report.