Red Devils stop Huskies

SELAH, Wash. — Othello’s quest for a Central Washington Athletic Conference district championship stalled Thursday night with a 3-0 loss to the East Valley Red Devils in Selah, Wash.

The Huskies battled with the Red Devils in a close and important first game before East Valley managed to capitalize on a couple of Othello serving errors to knock the Huskies off in game one, said Othello head coach Dean Spurbeck.

“We had our chance at least twice to win that first game,” he said. “It didn’t quite go our way.”

Othello missed a pair of opportunities to take an early lead over East Valley, but the Huskies served out twice to open the door for an East Valley rally. The Red Devils came back for a 27-25 win in game one.

After the Huskies fell behind with a loss in game one, East Valley held on for a victory in game two and another in game three to sweep Othello, Spurbeck said.

“We struggled passing in the second game,” he said.

Although East Valley swept Othello, Spurbeck said his team was impressive Thursday night.

“(We) played very well,” he said. “It was our best game (of the season), so we are definitely peaking at the right time.”

Othello fell 25-21 in game two and 25-17 in game three.

While Othello was swept in their first match of the double elimination portion of the Central Washington Athletic Conference district tournament, Spurbeck said his team is continuing to learn and improve.

“We had some very good defense,” he said. “(You have to when you are) playing a team as good as East Valley. We have to watch our mistakes. Each mistake is critical and that is something we are learning.”

Despite the loss to East Valley Thursday night, Othello’s postseason hopes remain high as the Huskies moved into the consolation round of the tournament.

Kylee Mollotte led the Huskies with 23 kills, senior Jody Walker had eight digs and  Eden Garza had 19 digs.