Chiefs drop tight one to Davis

Moses Lake looked stellar at times, but a victim of inconsistency

The first game of the girls volleyball match between Moses Lake and Davis was a seesaw battle, with Davis coming out on top.

It was a preview of how the rest of the game would turn out, as the Chiefs lost the league match in five games.

After giving up the lead on five consecutive points to end game one, the Chiefs took over the second game thanks to momentum-swinging kills by Jessica Odegaard and Sarah Kast to take an 18-15 lead, before pulling away.

The third game showed a different Chiefs team. Moses Lake missed several serves and spotted the Pirates more than a half-dozen points. Davis stretched its lead and won the game 25-10.

"We missed too many serves tonight," said Moses Lake head coach Amy Utter. "We're typically a good serving team."

But a side change allowed a change in play, with Davis making the mistakes and Moses Lake controlling service.

The Chiefs dominated the fourth game, winning 25-17, largely by allowing the Pirates to make errors.

"Volley is a big game of momentum and they key to victory is allowing the other team to make mistakes," Utter said.

Knotted at two games apiece, mistakes decided the final game — Moses Lake mistakes.

The Chiefs dug themselves into a 8-3 deficit due to unforced errors. Outside hitter Lisa Dodgen ended a minute-long rally with a spectacular kill to bring the Chiefs within one at 10-9, but it was too little, too late. Davis regained momentum and finished it out with a 15-12 win.

Utter said consistency was the main issue for the Chiefs.

"We are playing really well, and not so well," she said. "We have high highs and low lows and we need to start levelling that out to be a little more consistent. They were the better team tonight, but I think we are the better team."

However, Utter said there were several bright spots in her team's performance. She said she was particularly impressed with the power provided by outside hitter Sarah Kast.

"She set some real difficult goals for this match and I'm guessing she achieved them," Utter said. "She wanted to be more of a hitter and have more kills for our team. She did that."

Kast had 15 kills and 24 digs.

Setter Bailey Millican added 15 assists and 12 digs, but Utter said it was the intangibles that Millican provided her team.

"She just hustled and dug and scrapped and scraped," Utter said. "Defensively and setting-wise, I couldn't have asked for more."

With the loss, Moses Lake falls to 0-2 in league competition, but Utter said she is optimistic for the season.

"I think some of the girls played their best volleyball tonight, she said. "Considering that was the second match of the season, that bodes well for what's to come. We have one day to regroup and make a few adjustments and get ready for Eisenhower on Thursday."