TACOMA — When the 2007 volleyball season hit the hardwood Aug. 20, the North Kitsap Vikings set the lofty goal of advancing to the 4A West Central District playoffs.
A little more than two months, later they finished just one win short of that aim.
Stadium High School derailed North’s playoff aspirations, nabbing a hard fought 3-2 victory (25-21, 16-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10) against the Vikings Saturday afternoon at Mount Tahoma High School in a loser-out game.
“It was a really close game. It went back and forth the whole time,” said Vikings coach Tim French. “Nobody could gain any momentum.”
Senior setter Amy Cox finished with a team-high 22 assists, five aces and was a perfect 23/23 from the serving line. Fellow senior Jessica Ouellet tallied 15 digs, 10 aces and seven kills in her final game as a Viking.
“Jessica was the leader of our team this season,” French said. “She is an all-around great player.”
He said it was a tough way for North’s five seniors to finish their respective careers.
“They gave it everything they had,” he said. “The seniors were pretty emotional after the last game. We had a team meeting afterwards, and I think we left in a good place. I thanked the seniors for their all-out effort this season. We win as a team and we lose as a team.”
In the fifth and final set of North’s season, French said he made a crucial coaching error that may have cost his team a few points in the final stanza.
“I made a critical coaching mistake when I (accidently) put in a substitution illegally,” he said. “That caused some confusion and may have had an affect on our momentum. My team deserves better than that.”
Although the Vikings fell short of its goal by just one match, French said the volleyball program had a successful and memorable season.
“We fell short of our goal. It’s pretty disappointing because we had a great shot at it,” he said. “But in the end it’s about the relationships you build and all of the effort the team put into it. You have to look at the whole package. We didn’t get the end result we wanted but we’re satisfied with our season.”
