Seattle Christian School's Warriors continued their developmental path to success after outlasting Charles Wright Academy in four sets, 25-19, 15-25, 25-20, 25-19 in Nisqually 1A/2B League high school volleyball action on Monday, October 10, at their home campus in SeaTac.
In the deciding fourth set, the homestanding Warriors broke away from a razor thin 10-9 edge behind the driving serves of Molli Ronish and Hannah Sasaki to gain a 17-10 lead for SCS. These serves also enabled Megan Bryant to slam down several key kills.
Charles Wright rallied within three points three times, the last being at 21-18. Abgail Sauer scored and Seattle Christian enlarged the margin at the end for victory.
According to SCS head coach Amy Kirk, the league record for Seattle Christian improved to 3-4 while its overall mark stands at 4-4. Charles Wright is 1-5 and 3-6 respectively.
"We just worked really hard as a team," said Makenna Wallingford. "Staying in touch with each other, we just fought hard."
Two of the other three sets of this emotional match up were much closer, thanks in large part to Shelby Fisher, Janay Davis and Decker Nielsen of the Tarriers. Fisher had moments of front line domination en route to 13 kills and 11 blocks while Davis pounded out 13 kills. Nielsen added 10 kills.
Set one was a donnybrook battle of single point and multiple point exchanges until the teams reached an 8-8 deadlock. After a side out gave the Warriors a 9-8 edge, Hannah Sasaki punched an ace to the deep right corner to continue the surge. Megan Bryant's tip block later capped a 5-0 run for a 13-8 SCS margin. CWA countered to trail 13-12 as the squads battled to a final tie at 19-19.
Seattle Christian regained the lead for good when Charles Wright inexplicably watched a return simply drop into an open space. After two consecutive Tarrier miscues, Madelyn Weber's stuff block preceded another Warrior point. Alyssa Baucom completed her five-point serving stint by blasting a service winner off a Charles Wright back line player.
"The pulled together and focused on what we needed to get done," observed Sasaki.
Action in the second set featured CWA rallying from an 9-8 deficit to a 17-9 domination behind the efforts of Fisher and friends. SCS drew no closer than five points the rest of the way as the Tarriers ran to the 25-15 game win.
The Warriors came out on fire for set No. 3. Bryant's tip and a Sauer kill completed a 9-0 blitz to open the action. As the home fans loudly exhorted their team, the visiting Tarriers kept chipping away, drawing within 17-14.
Seattle Christian gained side out on a Charles Wright hit into the net before Bryant scored on an unhandled serve. One more point had SCS ahead 20-14, but CWA closed within 21-19.
Sasaki's kill from the left side touched off a Warrior 4-1 survival surge to the end of the set, thereby triggering the opportunity to end the match in four sets.
"We didn't let the little mistakes get to us," explained Bryant. "We stayed on our game and continued on."
SCS head coach Kirk was pleased with the effort. "Charles Wright is an excellent team with great players and great coaches," she said. "Our players are learning a lot about adversity. They took heart and competed tonight. Our girls are learning to dig deep and play our own rhythm and not worry about what the other team is doing. Tonight, we clicked with our own rhythm. It's really rewarding to see the girls developing into their roles."
Bryant knocked down seven kills to go along with six aces and five digs for SCS. Wallingford responded with 14 digs and five aces while Sasaki earned 10 digs and three kills. Hanna Kumasaka added 13 assists and Alyssa Baucom dished out seven assists. Molli Ronish had five digs as Madelyn Weber made four blocks.
Seniors on the Seattle Christian player roster include Hannah Sasaki (OH), Markie Turley (DS), Tori Kassebaum (OH) and Autumn DeOrnelis (RS). Juniors are represented by Megan Bryant (MB), Makenna Wallingford (RS), Kellie Kumasaka (DS), Molli Ronish (DS) and Nicole Mumm (OH). Hanna Kumasaka (S) is the sole sophomore. Freshmen include Abigail Sauer (OH), Alyssa Baucom (S) and Madelyn Weber (MB).
Assisting head coach Kirk is coach Jim Kassebaum.
