Big Bend rallies to beat WVC

WENATCHEE - Facing a 7-4 deficit in the fifth set, Big Bend volleyball knew a loss to Wenatchee Valley would greatly damage its playoff hopes.

The Vikings rallied to go on an 11-6 run to take the deciding set, 15-13, and win the match 25-14, 17-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13.

Down 2-1 entering the fourth set, head coach Steve Duncan wanted his team to return to what had worked to open the match.

"We showed that we had the ability to take Wenatchee on and we just needed to find the right place to be in as far as what we're thinking because we were doing the right things," he said. "We did a lot of great things so we just had to reset ourselves mentally and get back after it."

From the high school ranks up into college, Moses Lake against Wenatchee always makes for intense rivalry games.

That was no different Wednesday as a raucous Wenatchee Valley crowd made the environment less than accommodating for the Vikings.

"The Wenatchee crowd was intense," Duncan said. "The games that we spent right in front of their crowd section was some of the most intense coaching I've ever had to endure. You could definitely tell there was a rivalry there.

"To add onto that, the girls were going all out. Everybody on Wenatchee they wanted it bad, we wanted it bad. It was a perfect mixture for the game that we had and the rivalry that kind of exists between the two schools."

It took a balanced effort from Big Bend to complete the comeback on the road.

"Tonight was a huge example of a team effort," Duncan said. "We came together as a team and we really pulled ourselves up when we were down and we compensated for an error that someone else might've made. Somebody else stepped up the next point and it went like that all night."

The win moves Big Bend to 3-3 in the NWAC East and into a tie for fifth place with the Knights, who are also 3-3.