Hornets sting Soap Lake

MOSES LAKE — The Soap Lake girls volleyball rebounded from an early 1-0 hole Monday night against visiting North Central Washington 2B rival Oroville, but the Eagles couldn’t get over the hump late, falling 3-2 in five games.

The Eagles hung with the Hornets throughout the five-game marathon Monday night, but Soap Lake couldn’t finish Oroville off in the decisive game five.

Oroville got on the scoreboard first Monday night, holding off a late Soap Lake rally to take game one 25-20 on the road.

The conference rivals battled back and forth throughout game one, playing to a 10-10 tie before Soap Lake head coach Leanne Lesmann called a timeout to talk to her Eagles.

While the teams entered the Soap Lake timeout knotted at 10-10, the Hornets flew out of the break with a 3-0 run to take a 13-10 lead over the Eagles.

Although Oroville held a three-point advantage throughout the middle of game one, the Eagles rallied back.

Soap Lake outscored Oroville 6-3 over the next nine serves to pull even with the Hornets at 16-16. Oroville went on to score nine of the next 13 points to claim the victory and the lead 25-20.

Lesmann said her team struggled to start Monday night’s contest.

“We have played a lot better than that,” she said. “We need to start off strong. We are a lot better.”

Despite falling short in game one, the Eagles responded in both games two and three.

Soap Lake and Oroville continued to play close throughout Monday night’s contest, but the Eagles were too strong in games two and three.

Soap Lake capitalized on rally scoring and forced countless Oroville errors throughout the next two games. Soap Lake held on for a 25-23 victory in game two and a 26-24 victory in game three to come from behind and take a 2-1 lead at home.

While Soap Lake rallied for wins in games two and three, Oroville took control of the momentum in game four.

The Hornets came out of the break between games three and four ready to play and Oroville took advantage of unforced Soap Lake errors to storm out to a 7-0 lead to start the contest.

Although Soap Lake slowed the momentum, the Hornets maintained it by taking a 12-4 lead.

Despite falling behind early in game four, the Eagles did not go down without a fight. Soap Lake continued to put the pressure on the Oroville defense.

The Eagles stormed back from the 12-4 deficit late to eventually pull even at 22-22 and Soap Lake captured their first lead of game four at 23-22.

Soap Lake’s game-four rally fell just short when Oroville scored each of the next three points to take the game 25-23.

The victory allowed Oroville to pull even at 2-2, forcing a decisive fifth game.

The Eagles and Hornets played through a close game five with neither team able to pull away. Oroville and Soap Lake played through four ties and two lead changes through the first 15 points before Brittany Ellsworth provided a spark at the net for the Eagles.

With the Hornets holding on to a 7-9 lead, Ellsworth slammed an Oroville pass back over the net for a score, sparking a 4-2 run and Soap Lake pulled even at 11-11.

Although Ellsworth’s spike gave Soap Lake momentum to pull even, Oroville scored the next four points to claim game five and the contest 15-11.

After the loss, Lesmann said her teams needs to improve defensively.

“Our middle is wide open,” she said. “We need to be more aggressive at the net.”

Ellsworth and Samantha Marthini led Soap Lake with six kills each and Deonne Ramm had 15 assists. 

Soap Lake returns to action tonight when they travel to Bridgeport.