Everett, WA – On a Friday night in October, two teams entered the Walt Price Center searching for their first north region win. The visiting Rangers from Olympic College have had a tough go of it this season, coming in with an 0-14 record under a first year head coach. But the Rangers have had some competitive matches, including a couple of 5 set losses to west region opponents Tacoma and Centralia.
The Trojans, while 0-4 in the region do have 6 non-conference wins and took a tough Edmonds team to the wire in three competitive sets. They also had the advantage of home court, but sometimes the added pressure of performing well at home is unwelcomed.
Everett jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but Olympic battled tough and came back to take an 11-9 lead. A kill by Rachael Hendrickson and back to back kills by Devon McHenry swayed momentum back to the Trojans. EvCC continued to connect on offensive attacks but seven errors allowed OC to stay in the set and the Trojans called timeout at 20-20.
The set continued to stay tight, but the Trojans kept composure even through 16 total errors, and took the first set 25-23 on a kill by Kiersten Griffen.
Set 2 looked like Everett would carry momentum over after a 4-1 start but Olympic went on a 4-1 run of their own, and Coach Whitney Williams called an early time out to re-focus her team. The strategy worked as EvCC would go on a 10-4 run, and eventually stretched their lead out to 7, forcing Olympic to take a timeout at 17-10. The Rangers' timeout did not work in the same fashion and the Trojans would cruise to another set win on back to back Kelsey Kolling service aces, with a final score of 25-13. For Kolling it would be her first service aces of the season and Kiersten Griffin continued her career night with another 2 kills.
Everett started off the third set with a service ace from Jayda Grosboll who led the Trojans coming into the match with 29 on the season. After falling behind by as much as six at 16-10 the Rangers were able to bring it back to as close as four before ultimately falling 25-17.
It was the Everett's second, three-set sweep of the season and their first north region win. It was also the 7th overall win which is the highest win total since the 2015 season.
Kiersten Griffen had a season high 9 kills, and Lauren Riske led the team in digs with 11. Erin Ingram also had a solid night with 10 kills and 10 digs and Jayda Grosboll's 24 assists was her highest total of the season in a three-set match.
Everett will get a crack at one of the top teams in the league next week against Bellevue. The Bulldogs are 14-6 on the season with a 4-1 record in North Region play. First serve is scheduled for 7pm on Wednesday, October 13th at the Walt Price Center. The match will also be a Dig Pink Night for breast caner awareness.