OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies (4-4) volleyball team earned a 3-1 win at home against the visiting Warden Cougars (1-6) on Monday evening.

“I feel like there were ups and downs, but overall I think we did pretty good,” said Huskies senior Whitlee Hollenbeck.

The Huskies started the match strong, coming in with an early lead in the first set to take the victory over the Cougars 25-16. In the second set, the Cougars began to get in a groove, the score coming closer with the Huskies earning another set with a score of 25-18.

This shift was on full display in the third set as the Cougars pulled ahead of the Huskies to earn a 25-23 victory. The Huskies then rallied back in the fourth set to secure victory with a final score of 25-19.

“We were angry about the third set and how it ended and so we took the anger into the fourth set and won,” said Huskies’ Addie Roylance.

Both teams left the court at the end of the game feeling pride in their respective performances. The Huskies players felt they did a good job with Hollenbeck saying that they did great in the overpassing and working in players who don’t get much playing time. For the Cougars, Miranda Martinez said the team showed great improvement.

“I feel like we’re more confident on the court after our last win and I just feel we need to keep playing and working hard at practice,” said Martinez. “We still have little bits to improve in, but I think we did really good.”

Huskies head coach Steve Parris said while he felt the team struggled a bit in playing up to their full potential, the team still finished the job and got a home victory.

“We let some big leads go, tried to get all the kids in there and let them play some and they struggled a little bit with some of the stuff,” said Parris. “Warden’s middle, she’s good and she swings well, and we tried to take advantage of her on defense, but she held her own.”

Overall, he said the Huskies had a great performance, especially in the back row by Hollenbeck as she pursued every hit made by Warden. He also highlighted Jena DeLeon’s breakout service day as she had success hitting her spots and serving a hardball.

Cougars head coach Katie Roylance said she has been incredibly proud of the improvement that the team has shown so far this season and that this was on display during Monday’s game.

“They competed,” said Roylance. “They didn’t do so hot in the first, but they stepped up and they competed with these girls and it was so good to see.”

She said the Cougars’ performance against the Huskies was proof of their capabilities as a team and that now that the team has seen it for themselves, it will awaken their desire to push forward and continue improving.

Both teams have a busy week ahead as they each have a game on the road the following day, with the Huskies facing Ellensburg and the Cougars playing River View. Each team had today to practice before facing their next opponent tomorrow.

In this time, Parris said he wants the team to put a focus on improving their defense against middle attacks, as that weakness was exploited by the Cougars throughout all three sets.

“We’re going to be seeing some teams that have some strong middles and so we’ve got to do a better job against those middles,” he said.

The Cougars are going to tweak their positioning on the court, working on faster release and recognizing what the other team is throwing at them so they can react faster, said Roylance.

The results of Tuesday’s matchups were not available at press time. The Cougars will be on the road once again tomorrow as they face Tri-Cities Prep and the Huskies will return home to play Grandview. Both games will begin at 6:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE

OTHL: 25-25-23-25: 3

WRDN: 16-18-25-19: 1

    Miranda Martinez (3) of the Cougars hits the ball up after responding to a serve from the Huskies. Martinez said her team has been making improvements in each passing game and earned a confidence boost following their last victory.
  

    Addie Roylance of the Huskies sets herself up to hit the ball during Monday’s game. She said that the loss in the third set ignited the team to push for their victory in the fourth set.
  

    The Cougars’ Jayde Hymas bumps the ball over the net during the second set against the Huskies. Cougars Head Coach Katie Roylance said she has been incredibly proud of the desire her team has to get better.
  

    Huskies freshman Jena DeLeon serves the ball during the third set against the Cougars. Huskies head coach Steve Parris said DeLeon had a standout serving performance during Monday’s game.
  

    Hannah Roylance from the Cougars sets the ball up for one of her teammates to hit over the net during Monday’s game. Both the Cougars and the Huskies had a busy week with only one day of practice between games.