Kentlake volleyball wins third straight match

After losing their first match of the season to Kentwood, the Kentlake Falcons volleyball team has now won three matches in a row, including a 3-0 win over Auburn Mountainview High School on Sept. 17 inside the Kentlake gymnasium.

“I think we are playing consistent volleyball and taking care of that first ball. We are trying to really utilize our hitters as much as we can,” Head Coach Shawna Behrens said.

The 3A NPSL leading Falcons have gone over a week without dropping a set on their current winning streak. Three set wins over Todd Beamer High School and Thomas Jefferson High School gave the Falcons a full head of steam heading into their matchup with Auburn Mountainview.

“I feel like we are getting to know each other more and that means we are working better together. Everybody is starting to click,” senior Madi Harrigan said.

Kentlake has had a bit of recent success against Auburn Mountainview over the past couple of seasons. Back in 2022, the Lions defeated Kentlake in five sets and since that loss, Kentlake hasn’t dropped a set to the Lions.

That trend continued as Kentlake rolled over Auburn Mountainview in three sets. Kentlake started the contest on a roll, leading 7-2. On that seventh point, freshman Mesgana Petros announced her presence with an authoritative right hand kill. The 5’11” freshman has developed a big part of her game from YouTube, according to Kentlake Athletic Director Greg Kaas, showing how she’s a student of the game. But good leadership has also helped the young freshman shine early in the season.

“We are giving them good compliments and telling them to go for every ball and just crush it. If you make a mistake, just wipe it off,” Harrigan said.

It wasn’t just Petros making an impact. Fellow freshman Yvie Nimmons also made one against Auburn Mountainview. The pair of freshmen are very encouraging for the Falcons.

“They are just making everybody around them as a whole, better. There is just more competition and that just takes them to the next level,” Behrens said.

Kentlake closed out the first set winning 25-9, and never really let the Lions back in the set.

In set two, the two sides played very competitively in the first 18 points. At 9-9, Kentlake found separation. The Falcons went on a 10-3 run to really find some serious momentum and ended up winning the second set, 25-13.

“I feel like we had the mindset of the next ball mentality. We are focusing on the next serve, receiving the ball and putting it away,” Harrigan said.

For what would be the final set, Kentlake and Auburn Mountainview once against played a competitive opening few points. The Lions took a slim two point advantage, 8-6, and built it to a 10-7 lead. The two sides tied at 10-10, 11-11 and eventually 14-14 before Kentlake took over.

The Falcons finished the match winning 11 of the next 13 points to finish off the three set win.

“I feel like we stayed very point-to-point in the last set. I feel like our energy was really good and we worked the best I’ve ever seen us work as a team this season,” Harrigan said.

Kentlake has just four seniors on this 2025 team and each of them understand their importance to the team.

“They are just dedicated program players. They are unselfish, they lead on and off the court. They are really excited about their senior year, I think the younger kids really see that. They set the tone at practice. This is their year and they are going to go into it believing that,” Behrens said.

Kentlake takes on Enumclaw Sept. 19 at home before going on the road to Kent-Meridian to play the Royals in their first meeting of the season. The key for the Falcons success is keeping the gas pedal down on offense.

“We just gotta keep generating our strength which is our offense. We have to take care of the ball in transition and keep teams out of their system so we can have that advantage offensively,” Behrens said.