Volleyball heads to playoffs after 3–1 senior night win

Blaine’s varsity volleyball team celebrates after beating Anacortes 3–1 at home in the final regular season game on October 23. Photo by Oliver Lazenby.

By Oliver Lazenby

Blaine volleyball is going to the playoffs after capping their regular season with a 3–1 senior night win over Anacortes at home. The victory added a fourth game to Blaine’s winning streak and makes their regular season record 8–5.

Blaine won the match 3–1 with set scores of 25–19, 25–19, 19–25 and 25–21. The Borderites set the tone in the first match by not missing a single serve, and their momentum carried them through the second set.

Anacortes (4–9) didn’t give up; scrappy digs and solid blocking propelled them to a win in the third set. In the fourth, the Borderites focused on forgetting that set and stepping their game up, said head coach Jacquie Wilskey.

“One of our goals has been to not give free balls. No matter what happens we want to get the ball up so we can make an attack versus just sending over a free ball,” Wilskey said.

It worked, and Blaine led the entire fourth set with aggressive offense and defense.

Blaine senior Sydney Feenstra had nine kills; senior Kati Newton had eight kills, three serving aces and 18 digs; sophomore Mia Scheepens had seven kills and four serving aces; sophomore Kylah Wilskey had 35 assists, three serving aces and 14 digs, and junior Cassidy Condos had 22 digs.

Blaine plays Burlington-Edison (10–3) in its first playoff game, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 25 at Burlington High School. The Borderites did not play Burlington-Edison during the regular season. Burlington-Edison is ranked one position above Blaine in the Northwest Conference standings, but Blaine is on a roll after winning eight of its last 10 games.

“I feel like our momentum now will bring us to state,” Condos said after beating Anacortes. “Our goal is to go to state and we really feel like we can.”