Royal reversal

Knights stage cardiac comeback against Warden

The Lady Cougars were poised to steal a match, but Royal's one-two punch proved to be too much.

The Lady Knights' outside-hitters Sarah Anderson and Rikki Carter combined for 23 kills as Royal staged a thrilling comeback to beat Warden — 23-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-11.

In game one, the Lady Cougars surrendered five straight points to trail 7-12. After a timeout, Warden responded with a six point run. After a back-and-forth battle, a timely block by setter Ivory Kisler and two big kills by outside-hitter Mirielle Pixton gave Warden the game.

"The way we played the first time against them, they probably weren't too worried about us," said Warden head coach David Vega. "We came out and took advantage of that."

Warden capitalized on balanced team play in the second game to jump out to an early lead, but Royal kept it close.

Warden was leading 17-16 when the Lady Knights' registered several misserves and kills attempts that soared out of bounds. Ivory Kisler added a couple of aces to seal the game for the Lady Cougars.

"We made a lot of mistakes," said Royal head coach Paul Olsufka. "You can't give a good scrappy team - and they are a good scrappy team - opportunities to stay with you and you can't give them free points."

Game three played like the first two, until a few Warden mistakes allowed Royal to tie the game at 16-16. An ace by setter Ashley Baker gave Royal the lead and the momentum that would carry them through the next three games.

Warden led late in game four but as they played to protect the victory, Royal snatched it from them. Big hits by Anderson and Carter began staying in play and forced Warden players to react. Knotted at 18-18, Royal's Joelle Herrud stuffed a tip attempt to give the Lady Knights the lead. An Anderson ace, Carter kill and Herrud block later, the Lady Knights forced a fifth game.

Again in game five, Warden led early thanks to unforced mistakes by the Lady Knights, but again big kills by Anderson and Carter proved too much for the out-gunned Lady Cougars.

"There's no way we gave them that game," Vega said. "They've got better hitters than we do. They can pound the ball. We have nothing to be ashamed of."

Vega said he wants Tuesday's play to carry over to the rest of the season.

"We need to build on this and win a couple of our last three games," he said. "If we play like that, we'll be good. We had a total team effort."

The match served as a wake-up call for a playoff-bound Royal team.

"We're still making a lot of sloppy, sloppy mistakes — being in the net or hitting the ball out on the serve," Olsufka said. "We've got to somehow quit making mistakes."

Olsufka said his team has had to stage a few comebacks to counter early mistakes, adding that it cannot be ironed out in practice.

"We've been in quite a few of these," he said. "Ultimately it comes down to a mental thing. It's that focus factor."

With the loss, Warden falls to 3-4 in league, 4-7 overall. The Lady Cougars play Walla Walla Valley Academy at home Thursday.

The win makes Royal 5-2 in league and 10-2 overall. Their next game is Thursday at River View.