Can there be such a thing as a good loss in volleyball?

Ask Coach Gregg Sasan after the Orcas Viking Volleyball team lost their season opener 3-1, in a non-league match at Charles Wright Academy last Friday.

“We lost a close, hard-fought match to a bigger school that won their league last year,” Sasan said. “It’s never fun to lose. But I saw some things that we can build on – good passing, positive communication, and some serious scrappiness – all things we’ve been working on in practice. We’ll need all that and more as we take on Darrington and La Conner at home this week.”

The Vikings will build on the tough defense of Tika Zbornik in the backrow, who kept the team in rally after rally as she turned away the opponent’s attacks. Senior middle hitter Kathryn Tidwell and outside hitter Jenna Tully each had an outstanding night pounding the ball from the front court.

“We’ll take what we learned from this match and keep growing,” Sasan said. “If we continue to work hard on our game in practice, the matches will take care of themselves.”