BLAINE – It was a battle of stamina. Both teams fought extremely hard, and neither team deserved to lose. But, it was the Storm that edged the Borderites three sets to two at Blaine High School on Tuesday night.
Squalicum came out strong, and dominated the first set, winning 25-12. The second set was close throughout, but Blaine scored the final four points to win 25-18 and even the match up 1-1.
“The first set was awesome,” Squalicum coach Joe Amaral said. “I could tell that the other team was down, and I knew the rest of the match would be different.”
The Borderites kept getting stronger, as they won the third set 25-17, with some great kills from senior Kati Newton.
Down two sets to one, the Storm needed to come out strong in the fourth set, and they did just that, as they quickly broke out to a 18-11 lead. Senior Rylee Fogle had three kills in the final seven points, with junior Daisy Baier getting the final kill, as Squalicum came out on top 25-18 to set up the fifth and final set.
“Blaine came out with a strong offense after the first set,” said Squalicum senior Tessa Belsher who was celebrating her birthday. “They have a taller team, so we needed to adjust defensively.”
Down 6-4, a Fogle kill brought the Storm within one point. Neither team led by more than one point going into overtime. Blaine senior Ashley Dickerson had a kill that put the Borderites up 14-13, which prompted Amaral to take a time out. Blaine was one point away from winning the match, but a timely kill by Squalicum junior Leah Austin tied it up.
Belsher also had a slew of clutch digs in the final set, which led to tremendous offense for Squalicum. Fogle had her 18th kill of the night to give the Storm a 16-15 lead, and a misplayed kill by Blaine won it for Squalicum.
Belsher led the Storm with 29 digs. Fogle accumulated four aces and 14 digs while senior Anahita Gharai had 34 assists and 11 digs and Baier totaled 11 digs.
“That’s our identity as a team,” Amaral said. “Four players with double-digits in digs, that’s pretty great.”
Squalicum (4-1) will host Sehome (1-5) on Thursday night, and Blaine (1-4) will host Lakewood (0-5) on Thursday night.
