The Issaquah Eagles faced Woodinville on Oct. 5 in an extraordinary home game. Full of dive-saves and scores, this C girls’ volleyball match was both entertaining and impressive. After dominating the first two sets, 25 to 17 and 25 to 19, the team only needed one more point against Woodinville to close out the victory, but 7 straight points by Woodinville closed the gap, increased the tension in the gym, and left the score at 24-19. A side out by Woodinville clinched the victory for Issaquah.
The game started out well, with Issaquah quickly taking the lead. No. 2 freshman Sloane Bobkowski showed her skill throughout the game, with excellent dives and serves. She stayed consistent in her ability to score. The first set finished with a score of 25-17. The entire team displayed outstanding teamwork and coordination. No. 4 freshman Ella Knight states, “I think that when we’re on the court, we kind of just, become like one, that’s very cliché, but like, I don’t know, I feel like when we’re on the court, we just work really well together, and we play good.” No. 12 freshman Lily Larson made amazing dives throughout the whole game. Larson had a great game, stating, “I think I put all my effort into it. And I think our team did really good. We really felt like a team today.”
The second set was a back-and-forth battle between the teams, with back-to-back scoring and saving. But when the score reached 14-14, Issaquah took the lead, scoring repeatedly, reaching 19 points before the opposing team could score any. Woodinville came back for a while, scoring three more points before Issaquah made it to 25, ending the set with a score 25-17. Although the Woodinville team had taller girls, our team fought fiercely, with several amazing moves and superb coordination.
The third set started out well, with back-to-back points being scored on both sides. No. 7 freshman Kaelani Cornell provided some astounding saves and points, boosting the score to 9-5. No. 6 Campbell Garvey continued to prove herself throughout the set, making absurd saves and stunning scores. Issaquah continued to thrive, raising the score to 19-08. The girls scored repeatedly, but so did Woodinville. The score soon reached 21-10, then progressed to 24-12. Then, Woodinville made a comeback, scoring seven points in a row, making the score 24-19. The pressure rose as the game continued, until Woodinville got a side-out and sealed their fate. Congratulations to our team for a striking win!
Regarding the team’s overall performance, Knight states, “I think we did pretty good. It was a tough competitor, but we ended up coming out with the win.” On the overall scores of the team, Larson says, “Our last game we did lose by two, in the third set, so we were really close, but all the other games, we have been winning by a lot, by at least 10 points.” Knight continues to say, “We were undefeated, but we only have lost one game, so we hope to keep it that way.” Regarding her team’s performance, Coach Nicole Ophus says, “I think they need to keep pushing. They’re outstanding. They really are great players, and they all really succeeded tonight, so, they did great.” As for their best strength, Ophus continued to say, “I think their strength is just the way that they bond, and they work together on the court.” They definitely showed their strength in Thursday’s game. With taller players, as you can imagine, beating Woodinville is a hard job. No. 12 Larson continues, “It’s a lot more intimidating, knowing that they can get their hands above the net. And yeah, just having taller players, especially when you’re short, it’s really intimidating, you feel really small compared to them.” But the girls were still able to pull off a smooth victory against taller opponents, so congratulations to our JVC team!
The girls play Mount Si on Oct. 10 at 5:15 in the upper gym. Go see their next exciting match!
