Overlake sweeps the red-hot Grizzlies: Senior-laden Owls win all-Redmond volleyball battle

The red-hot Bear Creek volleyball team didn't have to travel far Monday night to play the Overlake Owls in a non-league, all-Redmond school matchup. But the Grizzlies' short bus ride to Overlake did not end with a win as the Owls cooled off the Grizzlies with a 3-0 victory.

By Tim Watanabe • October 20, 2009 5:23 pm
Overlake outside hitter Claire Bazley goes up for a spike as Bear Creek sophomore Elizabeth Fernandez defends during the Owls-Grizzlies volleyball matchup on Monday night at The Overlake School. The Owls swept the Grizzlies 3-0.
Overlake outside hitter Claire Bazley goes up for a spike as Bear Creek sophomore Elizabeth Fernandez defends during the Owls-Grizzlies volleyball matchup on Monday night at The Overlake School. The Owls swept the Grizzlies 3-0.

The red-hot Bear Creek volleyball team didn’t have to travel far Monday night to play the Overlake Owls in a non-league, all-Redmond school matchup. But the Grizzlies’ short bus ride to Overlake did not end with a win as the Owls cooled off the Grizzlies with a 3-0 victory.

Game scores were 25-22, 25-13 and 25-17.

Although the Sea-Tac 2B League Grizzlies were competitive, particularly in game one, the experienced Owls, who play in the 1A Emerald City League, made less unforced errors and looked unbeatable once their hitters and setters found their groove.

“We had pieces,” said Bear Creek head coach Sherrie Brown, whose team had won four of its last five matches entering Monday’s contest. “I was telling them, we have the ability to be great, but we need to put our passing, setting and hitting together at the same time. We’re going to work on that one.”

BACK AND FORTH BATTLE

The Grizzlies’ best chance to make a statement was in the opening game, when the visiting squad opened up 5-0 lead, fueled by two service aces by freshman setter Michele Brown.

The momentum then swung to Overlake’s side, as the Owls reeled off 12 of the next 13 points to open up a 12-6 lead, not before the Grizzlies, thanks to solid setting by Brown, rallied to tie the game up 18-18.

An authoritative spike by outside hitter Bethan Meyer drew the Grizzlies within one at 20-19, but the Owls finished strong to take the first game 25-22.

“We’re a really strong team, we really work well together and most of us have been playing together since seventh grade or even earlier,” noted Overlake senior opposite hitter and setter Alex “The Hammer” Weaver. “Tonight we really pulled together as a team, we started out a little behind but were able to pick it up, come through and play our hardest.”

The Owls certainly played hard at the end of game two, after the Grizzlies, down 9-2 at one point, nearly drew even at 15-13 on the strength of four Maddi Easley kills during the game. After that, the Owls fired off 10 straight points for a 25-13 rout.

With their backs to the wall down 2-0, the Grizzlies played strong but were never able to pull ahead in the 25-17 finale.

“We tried to get the girls to focus and play hard all the time,” said Overlake coach Luke Trier, explaining how his team was able to pull away. “You gotta give Bear Creek credit, they have a great team and a lot of good, young players. I think next year will be a harder matchup against them.”

The Owls were led offensively by the triple threat of seniors Claire Bazely, who had a game-high 10 kills, Lauren Ambielli (8 kills) and Jessica Elliot (6 kills), as well as Weaver, who notched five aces along with 20 assists.

The Grizzlies had strong performances by Easley, who had a team-high nine kills and three aces, with Dominique DuBois contributing six kills. Brown tied a season-high with 23 assists and sophomore libero Nikki Peterson collected 13 digs.

STATE ASPIRATIONS

With Bear Creek at 5-3 in league play, 7-4 overall and Overlake sitting at 6-3 in league play and 9-4 overall, both teams are heading down the home stretch with a winning record and look to make a deep postseason run in their respective leagues.

For the Grizzlies, the loss will open the door to improvements to get the girls firing on all cylinders.

“We gotta put it all together, and we have to be able to pass and serve,” Brown said. “That’s our focus now.”

The Owls, however, bounced back from a 3-0 sweep at the hands of Cedar Park Christian last week, and have a very important re-match with the Eagles on Monday, Oct. 26.

“(This win) was pretty important,” Trier admitted. “We play Cedar Park again next Monday … so it was good to build momentum again, but this team’s been great about that all year, they don’t let losses get them down and come out firing the next game.”

Although Trier shied away from talking about the postseason, preferring to take it one game at a time and let “the results take care of themselves,” his senior players are hoping to end their prep careers by taking home some state hardware.

“We’re really excited, we’re hoping we can make it to state,” Weaver said. “It’s the last year for most of us, because there’s six seniors, but we’re just hoping for a strong rest of our season. It’ll be great no matter what, because we’re really close as a team.”

For more photos of this match, go to www.sportspixs.com.