Nothing takes away the taste of a bitter loss than a big win against a longtime rival.
Sequim rebounded from their first Olympic League loss with a three-set sweep of Port Angeles on Sept. 24.
The Wolves (2-1 in league, 3-2 overall) won 25-20, 25-14 and 25-23.
“We were getting good swings on the ball; I don’t know if they (PA) had any blocks,” Sequim coach Jennie Webber Heilman said. “We were hitting at (particular) spots on the court.
Ella Christiansen led the Wolves with eight kills while Addrienne Haggerty, Jadyn Overby and Maddie Potts had four each. Lillian Oden had 14 assists and Sydney Balkan had 11.
Potts and libero McKenzie Bentz paced the defense. Potts had a7 digs and Bentz added 14, and Christiansen added four blocks.
Overby was 26-for-26 on serves — including a nine-point serving run in the second set — while Bentz was 12-for-12, earning a nine-point run of her own in the third set.
“We played really well as a team, not individuals,” Christiansen said.
The win came with a sliver of drama in the third game, when Port Angeles mounted a comeback to try to force a fourth game. Sequim shrugged off a trio of Roughrider aces to break a 23-23 tie with a pair of kills for the win.
“You just try not to let it get to you,” Christiansen said of PA’s late-game surge.
Sequim’s C-team and junior varsity teams also picked up three-set sweeps of Port Angeles Thursday.
KO’d in Kingston
Sequim, playing without a pair of projected starters for the first few weeks of the season, dropped a four-set match to Kingston on Sept. 22. The host Buccaneers picked up their first home league win in two years.
“We pretty much got served off the court (in) the first game,” Webber Heilman said. “(We) struggled with passing most of the match.”
Potts led the team with four kills, followed by Balkan, Christiansen and Haggerty with three each.
“We didn’t get much offense going because we were struggling with our passing,” Webber Heilman said.
Haggerty had two of Sequim’s four blocks.
“We also were not getting the blocks that we needed at the net,” Webber Heilman said.
Balkan had 11 assists and Oden aded eight. Potts had 27 digs and Bentz chipped in with 20 of her own.
Despite the struggles, Sequim tallied 21 aces, paced by Oden (six), Bentz (five) and Potts (five). Sequim was 70-of-82 from the serving line.
Rebound win
Two days later, still sporting a lineup with several swing (junior varsity-to-varsity) players, the Wolves looked strong against their visitors from the west.
“I think it’s coming together pretty good,” Christiansen said of the juggled lineup. “(The playing time) is good for the younger players.”
That looks to change this week when on Sept. 28 Sequim’s roster sees the return of two varsity players held out for academic issues.
“We’re OK (now, but) we’ll get a little more offense,” Webber Heilman said.
Extra play
Sequim dropped a three-set, non-league match to Centralia on Sept. 25 and played at Mark Morris High School’s Monarch Challenge in Longview on Sept. 26 — details were unavailable at press time.
Looking ahead
Sequim was slated to play at North Mason on Sept. 29. The Wolves are at Olympic League defending champ North Kitsap on Oct. 1 and at Bremerton on Oct. 6 before hosting the Olympic Trojans on Oct. 8.
Sequim also hosts a junior varsity tournament on Saturday, Oct. 3.
