With a win and a Kingston loss early last week, Sequim’s volleyball squad locked up the Olympic League’s No. 2 seed even before the team’s squared off in the regular season finale on Oct. 26.
For good measure, the Wolves overcame some flat play in the opening set to win 22-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-20 to beat the Buccaneers anyway, and cap the regular season at 10-5 (10-4 in league play ).
Seeded seventh, Sequim opens the Class 2A Bi-District Tournament at Foster High School on Friday, Nov. 3, against a familiar foe: Olympic League champ North Kitsap.
The Vikings (14-0 in Olympic League, 14-2 overall) ranked No. 9 in the WIAA’s RPI index, swept Sequim in two regular season meetings.
A win puts Sequim in the class 2A state tournament while a loss means the Wolves would need to beat the winner of the Nov. 3 Evergreen-Kingston game at 8 p.m. at Foster, and then win a second consolation game on Nov. 4 at Bremerton High School.
Against Kingston last week, the Wolves saw the Bucs go on a seven-point run in the first game.
“We missed serves at bad times and Kingston was playing hard; we needed to settle in and start playing,” SHS coach Jennie Webber Heilman said.
“We started passing better and just playing more consistently and serving better.”
Jolene Vaara led Sequim with 20 kills, nine digs, two blocks while also serving 19-of-20 with an ace and a seven-point serving run of her own in the second set.
Sydney Clark added 27 assists, 10 digs, two kills and a block while serving 16-for-17 with an ace.
Brianna Palenik was 15-for-18 with an ace, adding a four-point run and a five-point run in the third game. She added seven kills and 16 digs.
“They had a hard time passing her serve,” Webber Heilman said of Palenik.
Arianna Stovall also served four aces in a six-point run in the final game. She finished 20-for-23 with five aces, four kills and a block.
KO’ing the Knights
Getting a huge game from Vaara, Sequim earned an easy three-set sweep (25-7, 25-10, 25-11) on senior night over Bremerton on Oct. 24.
Playing in her final home match for the Wolves, Vaara had 17 kills and served 13-for-14 with six aces. She had a 10-point run at one point, including five aces in a row.
Clark also served 9-for-9 with 10 assists, while Palenik served 15-for-16 with a 13-point run. Stovall served 8-for-11 with three aces, a six-point run and five kills. Sydney Hegtvedt was perfect in six serves.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / With teammate Adrianna Stovall looking on, Sequim’s Jolene Vaara (25) looks to put a hit past Bremerton’s Lagituaiva Hale (3) and Helene Rode (12) in an Olympic League match on Oct. 24.
Sequim’s Brianna Palenik digs a Bremerton serve in an Oct. 24 match-up against the Knights.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell Sequim’s Jolene Vaara rises up for a big spike in a three-set sweep of Bremerton on Oct. 24.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim head coach Jennie Webber Heilman talks with Tiffany Lam (1), Sydney Clark (7) and other SHS players between sets of an Oct. 24 sweep of Bremerton.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Sydney Clark (7) and other SHS players celebrate a point in the third set of a three-set sweep of Bremerton in Oct. 24.
