Soap Lake falls to Easton in three games

CUTLINE 1: Tell me which one you want and I'll write it. The first one tells the story better, but the second one has Jonda in the bottom-left corner.

The Lady Eagles volleyball team experienced some growing pains Tuesday night in Soap Lake.

Despite battling in every game, the Eagles fell in three to the Easton Lady Jaguars 25-21, 25-11, 25-16.

The Lady Eagles held an early lead in game one, but faded at the midpoint to allow Easton to pull away. It was a trend that would echo through the next two games.

Tied 9-9 in game two, Easton rattled off 13 consecutive points on the strength of outside hitter Stephanie Wysocki's six kills and three aces.

In game three, the Lady Eagles were again tied at nine and, again, faded from then on.

"They started out well," said Soap Lake head coach Dean Spurbeck. "There were some very nice bright spots."

The brightest of which was freshman Michelle Marthini. She finished with six kills and two blocks. Sophomore Heather Barnes was also strong for Soap Lake, coming up with key digs to maintain rallies. She added seven assists and three kills.

But Soap Lake was unable to string together a full game.

"That's just because they're young and they need more practice time and more playing time," Spurbeck said. "Now we're starting to see the fundamentals come along," he said. "It's too bad that it is toward the end of the season."

The Lady Eagles have lost four players during the course of the season. Tuesday they started the match with one junior and no seniors. Midmatch, one player, leaving a young Lady Eagle team even younger.

Despite the loss, Spurbeck said he likes the idea that he will have time to let the younger players develop to battle in following years. He added that he will have a strong crop of freshmen next year. Soap Lake will return all but one player.

With the loss, the Lady Eagles fall to 2-6 in league, 2-11 overall. Their next game is against Waterville at home Saturday.