Two evenly matched teams bring out the best in each other.

This was certainly the case on Thursday afternoon in the volleyball game between Orcas and Lopez. Though Orcas won 3-0 over the Lobos (25-16 Orcas, 25-23 Orcas, 25-19 Orcas), the Lobos did not go down without a fight.

The first game saw Orcas maintain a massive lead over Lopez and the playing was focused, fast and furious. Volleys that were difficult to return were kept up in the air as players dove out of bounds to keep the ball in play, sacrificing knee and shoulder joints. But Orcas prevailed, capitalizing off some powerful serves from players like Lanie Padbury and set ups from Adrea Garcia.

The second game saw Lopez battling back hard. The seesaw for points was never one way or the other for very long and at one point close to the end Lopez was in the lead by four points, but mental mistakes took their toll and the Lobos had some costly ones. Players missed calling the ball. Well placed shots found their mark. Experienced members miscalculated strikes. The Lobos lost valuable points while the Vikings continued their rout.

Lindsay Anderson, Orcas Viking, said, “We played hard. We focused. We had worked hard all week and it paid off.”

By the third game the Lopez crowd was roaring. The Lopez high school gymnasium was filled to capacity but still the Vikings maintained a lead, even though at times it was only by one or two points.

Lanie Padbury, a junior for Orcas, had kills so hard it looked like it took the varnish off the gym floor but the Lobos set well and each team met block to block at the net. It was an aggressive, tooth and nail game.

In the last couple of sets of the third game, the score was 16-22, Orcas. Hanifah McGovern finished off a shot right into a Viking blindspot and the crowd went wild. Then an extended volley took place, and each team took turns hammering away with set ups leading with tips over the net and finally the Vikings took the point. Once again Padbury leapt and hammered it deep into Lobo territory. Two Lopez players dove but it was too late. The ball was too fast, the spike too powerful.

“I thought we played really well. We didn’t win but I had a great time,” Lobo Erin Dye commented.

“We lost our focus a little in that second game,” Lanie Padbury, leading finisher for the Vikings, said. “But we played really well as a team for most of the time. I was pleased.”

The Viking volleyball team plays again on Thursday, Oct. 15 at home against the Friday Harbor Wolverines. The Lobos volleyball team plays on Friday, Oct. 16 at home against North Sound Christian.