Bears fall in Narrows final

HIGH SCHOOLS: Gig Harbor outlasts Olympia for volleyball crown

MEG WOCHNICK; The Olympian | • Published October 31, 2009

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TACOMA - The mantra for the Gig Harbor volleyball team all season has been the quest to be their best.

Entering Saturday’s Narrow League tournament title match against third-ranked Olympia, the Tides still felt the sting of an Oct. 22 loss to the Bears.

But in an epic, 2-hour, 14-minute match to decide the Narrows League tournament champion and No. 1 seed into next week’s district tournament, the Tides avenged their earlier loss this season to Olympia with a thrilling 3-2 win Saturday night at Mount Tahoma High School.

Gig Harbor won by scores of 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17 and 15-12.

Gig Harbor will take the top seed into next weekend’s Class 4A West Central District tournament, which starts Friday at Kentwood High School. Olympia, suffering its first loss of the season, will be the No. 2 seed.

“To turn around and have an opportunity to play such a high-caliber team and to have everyone contribute was great,” Gig Harbor coach Sue Westering said. “We have 12 strong on our team, and not really one standout.”

Stadium, Bellarmine Prep, Central Kitsap and Wilson will join Gig Harbor and Olympia as the six teams representing the Narrows League at the district tournament. Olympia defeated Stadium, and Gig Harbor defeated Bellarmine in Saturday’s semifinal matches to advance to the title match.

When the two teams met 10 days ago in Narrows League play, Gig Harbor won the first two sets before Olympia stormed back to earn the 3-2 match victory. That proved to be the Tides’ lone loss in the Narrows League.

“I’m sure after losing Game 5 by two points last time, they came in hungry,” Olympia coach Laurie Creighton said. “At the same time, I felt like we had our chance to play better than the last time we played them.”

Saturday’s match featured 36 ties, including nine in the first set, which went to Olympia, 25-23. In sets one, two and three,

The largest lead for either team through three sets was Gig Harbor’s 14-9 in the third.

Olympia’s Lauren Herseth had a team-best 13 kills to lead the Bears. Her back-to-back kills gave Olympia a 19-16 lead in the third set. That capped a 7-3 run by Olympia as the team closed out the set, 25-23 to go up 2-1.

Gig Harbor regained momentum early in the fourth set. The Tides scored first in all five sets, and used an 8-0 run to finish the fourth set, thanks to two serving aces by Andrea Farmer and kills from Samantha North and Emily Blaser.

North finished with nine kills and Blaser had a team-best seven blocks. Anna Guenther had a team-high 12 kills, followed by Kelsie Jenkins’ 10.

Olympia wasn’t able to bounce back in the fifth and deciding set. Sarah Stoker’s kill gave the Bears their second lead of the set – 11-10 – but Gig Harbor had fewer unforced errors than Olympia down the stretch.

“The biggest thing we felt was with Olympia, it’s hard to close the door,” Westering said. “For us to get those last two points and finish it was huge for us.”

The match was the third time all season both Olympia and Gig Harbor were pushed to five sets. Olympia had 11 three-set sweeps in league play compared to Gig Harbor’s 10.

Two years ago, Gig Harbor went undefeated through the Narrows League but didn’t win the tournament. For the second straight season, Olympia went undefeated in league at 10-0 and has played for the tournament title. The Bears defeated Bellarmine Prep, 3-2, to win last year’s tournament title and No. 1 seed.

Olympia has dealt with adversity throughout the season from illnesses to injuries. This week’s matches were the first in almost a month of having all starters and all team members present. To go along with Herseth’s 13 kills, Lisa Chulich, the Narrows League MVP, had 12 kills and a perfect 26-for-26 performance serving with four aces, and Stoker had 11 and five blocks. Setter Michelle Christy had 34 assists.

“They’ve responded every time,” Creighton said. “And they’re going to respond to this as well.”

mwochnick@theolympian.com