HS Volleyball: North Thurston Outlasts Central Kitsap in Five Set Thriller

10/2/24

North Thurston 3, Central Kitsap 2 (24-26, 25-17, 27-25, 20-25, 16-14)

(Lacey, WA) Despite a new look league, Central Kitsap and North Thurston have been familiar foes after meeting for any years in the South Sound Conference. Now as members of the Puget Sound League, the two schools found themselves in opposite divisions but at the top of their respective divisions. With Central Kitsap leading the Narrows Division and North Thurston atop the Nisqually Division, the two first place teams met to see who the best of the Puget Sound League was on the volleyball court on Wednesday night.

Both teams entered the showdown riding nice winning streaks, with Central Kitsap coming off of five consecutive wins and North Thurston winning seven straight since dropping their season opener. Out of the gate, North Thurston rattled off the first five points of the match to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Central Kitsap responded perfectly and notched their own 5-0 run to even up the first set. From there, the Cougars began to take control with setter Ellie Smith mixing it up at the net with Iliana Brockett and Sydney Lingenbrink being the go-to targets. Some miscommunication issues hurt North Thurston and gave Central Kitsap a 24-19 lead. With set point for the Cougars, the Rams would go on a run with Tiana Orffer at the service line. Orffer served five consecutive points to even it up at 24-24. However, Central Kitsap again responded nicely with back-to-back points to take the opening set 26-24.

In the second set, the communication issues that hurt North Thurston in the first transferred over to Central Kitsap. The Cougars were not on the same page and North Thurston capitalized. Addy Conner began to get going at the net as Anna Sheeran was unbelievable on the back line for the Rams. Central Kitsap did not let North Thurston just run away with it however as both Sydney and Jordan Lingenbrink continued to play well with Smith and Brockett continuing their strong matches. The Rams were just too much in the second as they got the 25-17 win to even the match at 1-1.

Set three was intense from the very beginning. Manaia Pasi caught fire for Central Kitsap and that just added one more weapon for the Cougars. Jhazel Tirador and Anna Sheeran both controlled the back lines for their respective teams as each point was an absolute fight to see who could seize momentum. Once again, Orffer went on a run from the line that helped the Rams get ahead but not by much as CK evened things back up late. In the end, Abby Losey and Addy Conner gave a balance to North Thurston that helped the Rams notch a 2-1 lead with a 27-25 win in the third.

Things could not have gone much better early in the fourth for Central Kitsap. Sydney Lingenbrink was absolutely dominant in the beginning stages of the must-win set for the Cougars. The sophomore did it on both the attack and defense with some power kills and some fantastic blocks at the net. As she dominated it allowed Brockett to time her attacks while Manaia Pasi continued to get better and better with each set. North Thurston would go on a nice run but the Cougars did a good job at keeping them a safe distance away. Central Kitsap would force a winner-take-all fifth set as they won the fourth, 25-20.

With all the chips on the table in the fifth set, both teams had to start strong and they did just that in the race to 15. Some phenomenal rallies had everyone on the edges of their seats as North Thurston got ahead and earned a match point at 14-12. Central Kitsap responded with all around strong play to win two in a row and tie it up at 14-14. North Thurston would then lean on the star of the match in Abby Losey. The sophomore would deliver the final blow with one last kill that just fit in between the block and the net. A fantastic volleyball match from start to finish went to North Thurston as they took the fifth set from Central Kitsap, 16-14.

Our Elisportsnetwork.com MVP of the match went to Abby Losey for North Thurston. The sophomore had a great night at the service line with a handful of aces but was even better at the net. Losey was absolutely dominant at the net and from the back line she was terrific as well. She showcased pinpoint accuracy at the net and from the back line, mixing finesse and power. In what was a very close match, Losey stepped up and lifted North Thurston in the end to the win.

North Thurston keeps their winning streak alive as they make it eight straight wins to move to 8-1 on the season and a perfect 8-0 in Puget Sound League play. The Rams return to action on Monday when they visit Lincoln at 7:15pm. Central Kitsap drops to 6-3 overall and 6-2 in league play but remain atop the Narrows division in the PSL. The Cougars head home on Tuesday to host Peninsula, also at 7:15pm.

Link to watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (Subscription required)