It was the cheeks of the Bellevue Varsity Wolverines that wore a rosy pink after they upset the venerable Mercer Island Islanders at Dig Pink Night Tuesday evening.

 

Bellevue clawed back from two sets down to win the next three sets for the victory that snapped an Islanders’ win streak over Bellevue that has spanned many years.

 

Bellevue brought out the band, its students, families and alumni parents to fill the stands who’s spirit energized the Wolverines to believe they could accomplish what they haven’t done in recent memory: beat Mercer Island.

 

From the first serve, it was clear that the Wolverines were going to stand toe-to-toe with the unbeaten Islanders this evening.  The Islanders were to be challenged entering the Bellevue gym without their number one and two setters on the court.

 

The first set opened with Bellevue overcoming a five point Islander advantage to stay close, and then tie the set at 21-21 before taking a 23-22 advantage.  Mercer Island re-grouped during a time-out and then prevailed with a 24-26 set win.

 

The second set was much like the first, with Bellevue keeping pace with great play at the net and some of the best hitting of all season by Bellevue senior Katie Griffin.  The powerful hitting and serving of M.I.’s division one-bound Jemma Yeadon at times was negated by several Islander rotation errors as the Islanders struggled to jell with substitute players for its injured setters.  Bellevue succeeded in evening the set scores at 13-13, 18-18, and then pushing ahead to a 23-20 lead.  The Islanders fought back to even at 24-24 and points were traded to a 26-26 standoff.  The Islanders late comeback and momentum brought them a 28-26 set win.

 

In spite of the 0-2 set deficit the Wolverines and crowd continued their spirited enthusiasm and Bellevue squeaked out a third set victory to enable play to continue.

 

It may have been the third set win, or the pizza fueled crowd and band rocking in the stands, but it was clear the Wolverines were not going to let this one slip away.

 

In the fourth set, a kill by Griffin followed by a dink by Callie Weber brought Bellevue a 10-9 lead.  A long serve by Mercer Island followed by a solid kill by senior Denali Conway gave the Wolverines a 13-10 advantage.  More kills by Griffin paced points earned by the Islanders to keep Bellevue with a three-point advantage at 19-16.  Mercer Island did what it had done in each of the previous sets and found a way to even the score late at 24-24.  Points were then traded to a 27-27 standoff.  This time, Bellevue was not to be denied.  An Islander hit into the net, followed by a wide Islander hit allowed the Wolverines to scratch out a win to even the set score at 2-2.

 

The tie breaking fifth set saw Bellevue jump out to a 4-0 advantage, as the tiring Islanders are not used to long, close contests.  The Islanders jumped ahead on the efforts of Yeadon, to take a two-point advantage at 7-9.   Bellevue evened at 9-9 and went ahead 10-9 on a wild carom off the gym ceiling that was returned by Bellevue for a point.  An Islander hit into the net, followed by hits by Weber and Griffin, brought Bellevue to the brink of a win at 13-10.  The crowd went crazy as Bellevue extended its lead to 14-10.  The Islanders managed another point and regained service, but a long hit by the Islander’s star Yeadon ended the set and match in Bellevue’s favor at 15-11 and also ended the Mercer Island’s win streak.