Volleyball: Sequim is coming up aces

Wolves knock off Bucs, Eagles with strong service games

 

Sequim’s Wolves were expected to be one of the top teams in the Olympic League this fall.

So far, so good — just ask Kingston and Klahowya.

The Wolves got 33 aces in the pair of sweeps against their league foes, led by seniors Haleigh Harrison and Taylor Balkan.

On Sept. 27, the Wolves improved to 2-0 in Olympic League play and 7-1 overall with a 25-8, 25-11, 25-19 win against Klahowya in Silverdale.

"As a whole we played strong defense when Klahowya got the ball back," Sequim coach Jennie Webber Heilman said.

And Klahowya wasn’t particularly adept at getting it back when faced with the Sequim senior duo. Harrison’s jump serve earned Sequim nine aces while Balkan added five.

Harrison (11 kills) and Alexas Besand (10 kills) paced the offense, aided by Balkan’s 23 assists.

Sequim earned a trio of wins that night as the junior varsity topped Klahowya 2-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-23) and the C-team added a win (25-20, 25-19, 25-20).

The Wolves earned a clean sweep of Kingston at home earlier in the week, topping the Buccaneers 25-12, 25-18 and 25-17 on Sept. 25.

Harrison led Sequim with 10 kills while Balkan had nine digs and 32 assists.

"We pretty much overwhelmed Kingston, especially with our serving," Webber Heilman said. 

Balkan had a serving run of nine points in a row, four of them aces, while Harrison had a four-ace stretch and seven aces in the deciding third game.

Webber Heilman credited Balkan, Harrison, Hannah Hudson and Vanessa Martinez with solid defense.

In JV play, Sequim topped Kingston 2-1 (25-15, 26-28, 25-16) as Kylee Salazar and Elise Beuke had five kills each. Beuke had four blocks and Salazar had 15 digs. Katie Stevenson had two aces, Cheyenne Sokkoppa had four aces and Jordan Miller distributed 41 assists for Sequim.

Sequim placed fifth at the Mark Morris Tournament in Longview on Sept. 29.

The Wolves were scheduled to host North Mason on Oct. 2.

Sequim is at North Kitsap on Thursday, Oct. 4, and hosts Olympic on Oct. 11.