Eagles defend home court with 3-0 victory

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles (6-4) closed out their home game against the Wilson Creek Devils (3-6) with a 3-0 victory. With their fifth straight victory under their belt, the Eagles prepare for more battles against league opponents at the midway point of the season. 

“Ultimately, we won all three sets, so that was really good for us, but they made us really work hard that second set,” said Eagles Head Coach Erin Fletcher. “(Wilson Creek) is a team that’s very well coached, they’re a friend team of ours and that always makes the game even more special and fun at the same time.” 

The Eagles started off strong in the first set with a solid lead which they built on throughout. Soap Lake claimed the set 25-9 to be up 1-0 over the Devils. 

For the second set, Soap Lake carried momentum from their first win to build a slight lead, but Wilson Creek soon caught up. The two teams traded leads throughout the middle of the set as they each created opportunities and capitalized on each other’s errors.  

Once the two teams tied at 18-18, the Eagles found enough momentum to pull ahead. The Devils continued to battle through, but the Eagles claimed victory in the second set 25-22. 

Soap Lake built a strong lead in the third set as they sat 11-3 early on before Wilson Creek began creating opportunities to score again. Despite the Devils' efforts, the Eagles stayed ahead through the remainder of the set to win 25-10. 

“We had a really good first match, a really good third match, and that second match I think we would all agree was not our best,” said Fletcher. “(Wilson Creek) did nice jobs of doing off-speed stuff to us and taking us out of system and we had a hard time bouncing back.” 

Putting in hard work on their mental fortitude is what ultimately gave the Eagles their victory in that second set, said the Eagles coach. Even after a costly mental error such in the second set where they were out of rotation, the Eagles dug in to fight, remain competitive and claim the home victory. 

“Our timeout helped bring our girls back,” she said. “Sometimes you also have to remind them to breathe and settle down for a second. We’re very young, so we really try to control all the highs and the lows that come with the game and try to make them less noticeable.” 

Fletcher said she was very proud of Soap Lake’s defensive effort that they’ve been coming on the floor with, which was on full display Thursday. This effort is what helps them get out of tough situations like mental errors that give away a free point.  

Looking forward, the coach said she wants to now focus on bringing up the team’s offensive effort. 

“We’re very inconsistent hitting right now, but we have really elevated our defensive game,” said Fletcher. “That’s really what’s carrying us through right now in these games.” 

With the Eagles sitting at the midpoint of the season, she said their focus was using the prior week to make a statement for their new era of volleyball. Their games against Oroville and Wilson Creek were to prove their abilities as players. 

“Last week was our reveal, this is our new team, this is our new era,” said the coach. “This week our theme was making a statement. We wanted people to understand that we deserve to be here, we deserve to be in the conversations as to the 1B playoffs.” 

Coming up with a new theme each week to fuel the Eagles is something Fletcher said she and the other coaches work on constantly. With what they’ve learned in the past few matchups, she wants to have the incoming theme be focused on aggressiveness and playing more offensive minded. 

This mindset is something she said will be important as Soap Lake gets ready to face tough opponents like Moses Lake Christian Academy and Pateros, who is sitting at the top of the league. The Eagles will work to continue their win streak as they work to play in their system and become more aggressive on the court. 

“We’re so proud of them,” said Fletcher. “Right now, we’re watching for that complete set, and when that comes it just makes you have that ‘proud mom’ moment where you’re like, ‘Okay, there it is.’ We always had a very high bar and have kind of forced them to come up to that level, and they’ve done it. For a team that’s this young that has bought in and is continuing to buy into it, it just makes me very proud.” 

The Eagles remain home Tuesday to host the Moses Lake Christian Academy Lions at 6:15 p.m. The Devils return home Thursday to host Thorp at 6 p.m. 

BOX SCORE 

WCRK: 9-22-10: 0 

SPLK: 25-25-25: 3 

    Cheyanne Daily from Wilson Creek leaps up to slam the ball over the net in Thursday’s game against Soap Lake.
  

    Soap Lake’s Marina Zubritskiy prepares for the oncoming serve during Thursday’s game against Wilson Creek.
  

    Lila Sackmann from Wilson Creek hits the ball to set up a hit for her teammates Thursday evening in Soap Lake.
  

    Lidia Rodriguez from the Eagles dives for the ball during Thursday’s home game against the Devils.
  

    Reece Voss from the Devils places herself to respond to an Eagles serve Thursday evening.