The Bellevue Wolverines traveled to East Bellevue on Wednesday night to take on the Interlake Saints in a Bellevue derby match.

 

Bellevue started out with purpose in game one behind a Holly Huard kill, an Alexis Khuu ace, and a Naomi Chen-Mallouk block to go up 3-0. Callie Weber and Ally Witham each got two kills to stretch the lead to 9-2 and BHS was well on their way. Jenna Keenan put a couple middle hits away to make it 13-4. Weber got her most impressive of her 6 kills in game one to go up 22-12 and Weber finished it off with an ace to roll in game one, 25-15. Bellevue had nearly perfect serve receive and Khuu setting to make it look easy.

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Clearly dominated in game one, Interlake came out in game two with a much different tone. Saint Abby Harden's tough serves had the Wolverines scrambling and before you know it, IHS was up 0-7. Bellevue could never find the groove they had in game one and Interlake rolled to a convincing win, 16-25.

 

Outside hitter Callie Weber took over early in game three as she had a couple of kills and an ace to lead BHS out to a 4-1 lead. Interlake crawled back to 10-9 before Chen-Mallouk score with a block, Witham had a slam, Weber had and kill, and Khuu followed with an ace to make it 14-9. Sophia Knapp took the serve up 17-11 and proceeded to go back to back to back aces and stretch the score to 20-11. Weber finished it off with a kill and BHS took game three, 25-16.

 

In game four, Weber got a block for a point and a kill to go up 4-2. Weber had a couple more kills to tie the game 6-6. Huard had back to back kills to bring it 8-8. Khuu had a sweet dump and then an ace to give BHS a solid 14-10 lead. After a Weber kill, the Wolverines took a commanding 19-13 lead and looked to be well on their way to a match victory. But, Interlake dug deep. Behind great defense from Gabri Frost and some tough net play by 6’3” middle, Nicole Kramer, they climbed back into the game 22-22. The Saints were able to ride the momentum and home crowd to a 22-25 victory and send it to a deciding game 5.

 

In a short game to 15 with rally scoring anything can happen. Luckily, BHS got the ball to serve with their best server and Alexis Khuu delivered an ace to go up 1-0. But a missed served and an Interlake kill made is 1-2. Witham got her best kill or the night to make it 3-3. Witham got a back row kill to make it 5-4. BHS was up 6-5 when the longest rally of the night occurred. There we many great saves by Knapp and Emily Burns in the back but IHS took the point to tie it 6-6. Huard had a sweet tip to make it 7-6. A Weber kill made it 8-7. A Weber slam tied it at 9-9 and coach Kalingo called time out. Interlake, needing this game to keep their spot in the standings, played their best ball of the night to go up 9-13 and on the verge of the upset. Witham produced a kill to make it 10-13 for a side out. Weber behind the line aced away for a 11-13 score. But, IHS got the next point to go up 11-14 and serving for the win. But, a good pass and a perfect Khuu set put Witham inline to put it away to make it 12-14 and side out. Knapp took the serve with the game in the balance and the Saints put it into the net to make it 13-14. Then, Knapp, with ice water in her veins, scorched an ace to tie it at 14’s. BHS used a free ball to set up Weber in the back row and she put it where there weren’t any Saints and it was 15-14. The next shot landed just long by Bellevue and IHS got the ball back at 15-15. Interlake had a great tip at the net to go up 15-16. With the match at the brink, Witham tipped it home to tie it at 16. Witham took the serve and Interlake took a mighty swing but the shot was long. Up 17-16 and game point in the sights, the serve went just long by inches. Interlake served it up and a perfect pass from Knapp to Khuu set up Huard for the thunder slam. Huard got the point and earned the serve that scrambled the Saints. A free ball to Knapp produced a perfect pass to Khuu and she knew she was taking it outside to Weber who sealed the deal down the far seam and the battle was over, 19-17.

 

The Wolverines showed great resolve to dig deep to win this Match. Congratulations the Interlake Saints who played great. Neither team deserved a loss in this match!

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In JV and C action, both teams extended their Kingco winning streaks to 11 games with straight-set victories.  In the JV match, Meghan Weber took the air out of the ball to deliver what seemed like 10 aces in Interlake's front court, and the team rode strong hitting by Hannah Geffe, Katie Sorrell, and Weber to cruise to victory.  The C team won their first game 25-14 behind at least 6 aces off the serves off Jessica Buxton and Livie McQuain, along with great tips by Rachel Nam and perfect digs by Lilian Johnson.  Game two was a tighter 25-17 with the Saints edging closer, but Bellevue regrouped to secure the win.

 

The Wolverines take the short trip to Factoria on Thursday to take on the 4A Newport Knights in a non-league match. We hope to see you there.

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Varsity Stats Leaders, Interlake

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Aces:        Knapp 4*, Khuu 4, Weber 3

Kills:         Weber 22*, Huard 9, Witham 9

Digs:        Knapp 21*, Burns 14*, Witham 14*

Blocks:    Chen-Mallouk 4, Keenan 2

Assists:    Khuu 46*

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*  New Season High

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Season Varsity Stats Leaders

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