Wolverines Bounce Rams
Ingraham Battles But Can't Solve Bellevue
Holy Names Re-Defines "Coug'ing It"
Clutch 3rd Game Run Leads to Victory Over Wolverines
With a chance to get into the state tournament on the line, the stakes were high as Bellevue took on the Cougars of Holy Names, just 30 minutes after finishing off Ingraham. HNA started out strong and took an early lead. A Huard kill closed the gap to 3-5. A Weber kill made it 8-11, but BHS was having trouble getting the offense going. A Kennan slam closed the gap to 12-14 and after a Chen-Mallouck kill from the middle, BHS has closed the spread to 16-17. Bellevue took the next two points to take a 18-17 lead but HNA took charge behind some solid serving to close the game on an 8-2 run to take game 1, 20-25. After great serving against IHS, the Wolverines struggled to find the court in this game missing at least four serves.
Game two seemed like a must for Bellevue but yet again they started in the hole. Kennan got an ace to tie it at 3 and that set BHS on a nice run. The Wolverines were flying around and keeping some great points alive and a Huard kill stretched the lead to 10-5. Chen-Mallouck got back to back blocks and the lead was 15-8. Witham got back to back kills to make the score 19-9. After taking a commanding 23-12 lead, Bellevue gave some points back but the lead was too much and a Khuu block finished it off, 25-16.
Game three had the feel that it was going to determine the outcome of this match. Chen-Mallouk got a block and a kill to tie the game at 5-5. HNA went on a run taking a 5 point lead before a Khuu tip closed it to 9-12. A Weber back row smash tied the game at 13’s. Witham made it a side out with a kill to tie it at 14 and she took the serve. She got two aces sandwiched around a Huard kill. Chen-Mallouck blocked the next HNA hit and Huard got another kill and the Wolverines were on a 11-2 run taking a 20-14 lead. After an amazing diving save by Burns, Bellevue took a 23-18 lead when Weber put it away. A HNA side out made it 23-19. Before you could blink, HNA rode the wave of momentum and behind good serving, blocking, and defense, ended the game on a 7-0 run taking the pivotal game 3, 23-25.
Reeling from the end of game 3, BHS struggled to get things going in game 4. Struggling with serve receive, HNA jumped to a 1-5 lead. A Weber kill followed by an Knapp ace closed the gap to 6-7. Weber got back to back kills and BHS took a slim 9-8 lead. The Cougars then took the lead and held it until a coach Kallingo time out at 16-20. Wanting to send it to a fifth game, BHS dug deep but the 8th game in a short period of time was taking its toll and the fresher HNA, having a bye before this game, showed. The Cougars smelled the victory but BHS has one more run in them and after a Weber ace, closed the gap to 19-22. But it wasn’t enough and Holy Names took the game, 19-25, and the match 3-1. Congratulations to HNA taking the state bid. We hope to see you again in Kennewick next weekend.
The Bellevue Wolverines started their attempt to make the state tournament with a loser out game versus Ingraham in a game played at Lakeside. Callie Weber started the first game with a kill before Holly Huard went on a tear getting four kills in a stretch to take BHS to a 7-5 lead. Huard and Weber each got two more kills but Ingraham played much better than their record and was giving Bellevue everything they wanted. The game was back and forth with ties at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17. Sophia Knapp made a saving dive and the ball went over the net and found the floor to put BHS up 19-17. The Weber took over with back to back kills and a block to stretch the lead to 22-18. Weber then got an ace to go ahead 23-18. Ally Witham finished off the game with a tip and game one went to the Bellevue blue, 25-20.
Bellevue started game two with a Weber kill and an Alexis Khuu ace to jump to a 2-0 lead. Witham got two kills as did Naomi Chen-Mallouk but the Rams were not going away quietly. After a Weber kill tied the game at 8, IHS went on a run that Bellevue couldn’t stop. Bellevue got to 12-14 but Ingraham finished the game on a 11-1 run and took game 2 convincingly, 13-25.
Game three was going to determine the outcome of this match. Would Bellevue stop the Ingraham momentum or would Ingraham stay on a roll? After Witham got a couple of kills, she and Chen-Mallouk convincingly blocked Ingraham and took a 5-1 lead. After a couple of games where the Wolverines looked a little tentative and sluggish, they finally found their form. Weber got 4 kills and Bellevue’s offense was hitting their stride behind Khuu’s setting. A Witham spike stretched the lead to 23-14 and IHS made a little run late, but Weber put game 3 away, 25-18.
Bellevue stayed on the attack and got kills from Witham, Weber, Khuu, and Huard to jump out to a 5-1 lead. A Huard kill made it 15-9 before Jenna Kennan got back to back aces to make it 17-9. The onslaught continued as Sophia Knapp and Emily Burns were passing beautifully to Khuu who set up Weber, Witham, Huard and Chen-Mallouk each with kills to take a commanding 21-10 lead. Khuu then pulled the jump serve out of the bag and got back to back aces to make it 23-10. IHS dug deep to try and get back into the game and things were getting a bit nervous after a 6-0 run to make it 23-16. But, a Witham kill for a side out teed up Huard for an ace and the game 25-16. The match went to Bellevue, 3-1, and set up a chance for a state tournament bid with Holy Names.
Sea-King Day 1