By Gerardo Bolong

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

TACOMA - Kennedy Catholic regained its composure after being dominated by Puyallup earlier to gain a 3-1 West Central III/Southwest IV volleyball 4A Bi-District tournament ousting of SPSL Olympia on Fri., Nov. 15.

The Lancers (10-10) need to win two consecutive matches on Saturday at Curtis Jr. High School in order to qualify for the state tournament.

”I’m happy they came to play,” said KC head coach Liz Quitiquit. “There was much more energy. They didn’t hold back and were aggressive. They weren’t afraid to take chances. When they made mistakes, they just moved on.”

A fired up Kennedy Catholic squad opened the first set with aggression on its mind.

Sharli O’Neil struck often and with deadly intentions while Jessica Obrigewitsch, Avery Watkins, and the rest of the Lancers joined in with kills, blocks, and digs to establish leads of up to seven points on the path to a 25-20 set win.

In the second set, Olympia closed in at 15-13 and trailed only 24-22 before Pearl Moore’s right side kill capped a 25-22 victory.

In the third set, the Bears used their bevy of six-footers to nearly nullify the Lancer hitters with continual middle blocks.

A six-point Oly surge created a 22-11 Bear command on the way to a 25-17 win.

Adjusting it’s offense to concentrate its attacks on the sides, Kennedy Catholic regained its striking power in the fourth set.

Back and forth the teams evenly battled evenly until Watkins’ shot over the net while nearing and facing the serving line completed  a 6-1 rally for a 14-9 lead..

“That ball was mine,” emphasized Watkins, who finished with 19 assists. “The energy was there.”

KC continued the assault and led by up to eight points near the end.

Olivia Deckard nailed a kill for a 25-18 triumph as the Lancer defense stood fast.

”I just kept looking at the ball (on defense) and lined up the hitters,” said a happy Ava Colello, who finished with 11 digs.

Pearl Moore earned 14 kills, and two aces. O’Neil delvered eight kills. Deckard had 19 assists.