The Kentwood High volleyball team still has it.
The Conquerors drove home that point Wednesday night, sweeping away Kentridge 25-17, 25-11, 25-22 in a South Puget Sound League North Division match.
The Chargers (1-2, 6-2) stunned the Conquerors (4-0, 8-1) on Sept. 15 in a nonleague match, which left many wondering whether Kentwood could continue its streak of consecutive SPSL North wins.
On Wednesday night, the Conquerors pushed that streak to 55 straight league victories, and did so in dominating fashion.
“(This game) was really a point of redemption,” said Kentwood junior Erin Campbell, who pounded out a match-high 13 kills to go along with 12 digs. “We wanted to show everyone how well we’ve gotten since we played (Kentridge) last.”
Kentwood showed plenty from the start, cruising out to a 6-1 lead in the opening game, a 6-1 advantage in the second game and a 4-0 edge in the third game. Campbell, thanks to solid assist work from setter Kayla Hanus, set the tone early and often.
It was all part of sending a message, Hanus said.
“Don’t ever underestimate,” said Hanus, who tallied 34 saves on the night. “This was one of our best matches. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people when it comes time for district.”
The win helped Kentwood move into a two-way tie with Auburn Riverside (4-0) for first place in the North.
Kentwood led from start to finish in the first two games. Kentridge, caught on its heels through games one and two, came alive late. The Chargers stormed back from a 4-1 deficit in the third game to take an 8-5 lead behind the all-over-the-court presence of Jaclyn Onosko. The Chargers, however, could not sustain the momentum.
“We dug ourselves into too many holes,” conceded Onosko, who led the Chargers with 7 kills and 3 blocks. “That’s what we’re working on, getting in the lead first … we can’t get down 6-0 at the start.”
Tied 14-14, Kentwood sealed the victory with an11-8 run that ended on an unforced Kentridge error.
“They’re a very good team,” said Kentridge coach Liz Quitiquit. “It’s just frustrating that we play so up and down. We’ve talked about how we have to be more consistent and play hard all three games.”
Kentwood has won 28 of its last 31 matches with Kentridge.
Since losing to Kentridge last month, Kentwood has won six matches in a row, including 18 of 19 games.
Yet, Wednesday’s win wasn’t necessarily about sending a message to the Chargers, Kentwood coach Bil Caillier noted.
“We didn’t want to send a message to them, (it was) to us,” the coach said. “It’s never about the other team. I’ve been on these girls all week telling them, ‘You guys have to play every game from start to finish and act like you’re in a fight.
“Tonight we did a better job of staying steady all the way through.”
The key to Kentwood’s balance play was a spread out attack. While Campbell led the way with 13 kills, Ally Peterson added 11 more while Mikaela Ballou chipped in 7 and was followed by Lychelle Roberts-Kirby (5).
Outside of Onosko, Manisha Walia led the Chargers with three blocks.
ELSEWHERE: Kent-Meridian’s Morgan DeCarteret collected 20 assists while Kayla Ierlan added six kills, but it wasn’t enough for the Royals, who fell to Auburn in three games 25-16, 26-24, 25-21. … Kentlake’s Aryn McCarthy racked up 29 digs while Megan Hartnett added nine kills, but it wasn’t enough for the Falcons in a three-game (26-24, 25-12, 31-29) nonleague loss to Puyallup.
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