Sometimes quick does the trick.

The Lobos were put to the task fast and hard by the Lummi team early on during the Sept. 25 game, returning some zingers that seemingly no team could return, but then Lummi returned as good as they got.

“This is not the best we have played,” Coach Mellonnie Altona said. “It’s great they pulled it together, but I have seen them play better under more difficult circumstances. The freshmen came through and stepped up and it was great to see them handle pressure. I am very proud of Vilina Sanborn-Bill.”

Sanborn-Bill, a sophomore who has been working on her serves and who scored the final two points of the fifth game for the Lobos, commented, “My hands were shaking. I wasn’t sure either serve was going to go over the net.”

But both of them did. Sanborn-Bill had the last two serves in the fifth and final game. One was an ace and the second one was a tip across the net that looked as if it wasn’t going to quite make it.

But it did.

The serve wasn’t returned, and the Lobos redeemed themselves in the final 30 seconds against the Lummi Blackhawks, winning a grueling five game match 25-20 Lopez, 18-25 Lummi, 25-11 Lopez, 25-27 Lummi, 17-15 Lopez, with Lopez taking the game.

Lummi came out scoring early, leading 7-0 in the first two minutes of play, but the Lobos kept their cool and got back into the game with the patience of a hungry wolf. In the last minute of the first game the score was 22-18, Lobos leading. And the Lobos just kept getting better. With home turf nerves finally settling out, the Lobos were placing better, setting better, and making less errors than Lummi.

For Lopez, Sarah Stanley had eight kills, Marina Steinbrueck ended with seven kills, and Erin Wilbur had six. Sophomore Vilina Sanborn-Bill had six aces in serving and was 15-17 in serves overall.