Huskies complete season sweep of Prosser

OTHELLO – Entering Tuesday night’s match with a 7-7 record, the Othello Huskies regained a positive win-loss record with a 3-1 win over Prosser, their second win over the Mustangs this season.

The Huskies dropped the first set but rallied to win the final three for a senior night win.

“Our kids are doing a great job of playing for each other and not being selfish or about themselves,” Othello head coach Steve Parris said. “It’s been a very enjoyable group, for me. We were a little worried at the start (of the season), but we really pulled together. We have some kids that have really stepped up into leadership positions.”

Both the Mustangs and Huskies battled back and forth to start the first set, with Prosser recapturing an early lead and never looking back, winning Set 1 25-17 on a block to end the set.

“Their middles are pretty strong, so our goal today was to do our best that we could to keep them out of their offense,” Parris said. “We tried to serve mostly to the corners and keep the ball out of the middle so that they were not able to get as good of passes and run their middles as much.”

To end the second set, senior Natalie Martinez had a kill to put Othello up 25-19 and tie the match at one. Martinez said that the Huskies’ “drive” and “spirit” pushed the team to the win.

“(It took) The drive and the spirit that we knew we had to do as seniors to get it done,” Martinez said.

Prosser took early leads in both the third and fourth set, but the Huskies quickly came back, leading by as much as six late in the third and 10 late in the fourth set. Othello won Sets 3 and 4 25-17, the former being won on a Prosser short serve and the latter on a kill by Martinez.

“It’s tough, I love this group,” Parris said. “They are selfless, and they play for everybody else. They would do whatever you need them to do and whatever you asked them to do as far as being out there on the court. They’re a great group of young ladies, and I wish them the best. They’ve got some great futures.”

Martinez said that her game-winning kill has been her favorite part of her senior campaign.

“This whole game, that last point with the whole team coming to congratulate me, that was probably my favorite (moment),” she said.

The senior described senior night as “emotional,” and recalled past experiences through her four years in Othello’s volleyball program.

“Starting out it’s kind of scary, but the Othello program makes you feel at home,” Martinez said. “The first second you walk through the doors they accept you, and I’ve loved going through with this program.”

Following Thursday’s game at Ellensburg, Othello will return to Ellensburg on Saturday as the No. 4 seed in the Central Washington Athletic Conference tournament. The opponent for the Huskies has yet to be determined, as of Tuesday night. Parris said that the team will be preparing for districts by getting hitters involved.

“For us, we’ve got different hitters that can go out there and dominate on any night,” Parris said. “We’ve just got to make sure we get them more involved, different ones, to make certain we can see who is there.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.