SILVERDALE — Though it didn’t get the final wins it needed, the North Kitsap Vikings volleyball team has proved its caliber and improvement on the season.

Tuesday night, the Vikings were initially vicious as they welcomed the Narrows League No. 2 Central Kitsap to Poulsbo for the final game of the regular season.

On senior night, the Vikings came out strong with solid back-to-back wins, but the purple plague of unfinished business gave Central a foothold as the Cougars climbed to three straight wins, taking the match, 3-2.

“I think those first two games tonight were probably the best we’ve played,” NK head coach Tim French said Tuesday, noting the progress of the Vikes’ season. “We’ve never put two games like that together so I was really happy about that, just a little disappointed that we didn’t get a third one.”

In the first two games, the Vikings were fierce on both ends of the spectrum as the front row defense got a hand on nearly every CK attempt, while outside hitters KC Fossum, Katie Richards and Jessica Oullet fueled the offense with unrelenting, systematic kills.

Oullet finished the five-game match, leading NK with 10 kills, 20 digs and four aces, while Fossum also had 10 kills, adding four blocks and 12 digs. Richards smashed five kills and picked up 11 digs.

North won the first two games by the dominant count of 25-16 in each contest, but in the third, CK stepped up while North stumbled back. Though the Cougars held the lead throughout, it was a battle for game three.

Central upped their tempo, smashing their hits harder than North while utilizing their height at the net to steal the game 25-17, turning the match around.

“I think Central definitely played better, they picked it up, that was one thing,” French said, looking for an explanation. “I felt we started to second guess ourselves on some balls where as earlier in the match we were just going.”

The Vikings hesitation in the final games of the match turned into mistakes which gave Central the upper hand. The Cougars pulled out one more 25-17 win in the fourth game before closing the match with a Melissa Liechty kill and Katie Wilkinson ace; 15-8 was the score of the final game.

Leichty led CK with 15 kills and 13 digs while Wilkinson had eight kills, 13 digs and seven aces — including three in the fifth game.

“Now we know that we can beat CK, we’re at their level,” said NK senior KC Fossum said after the game. “They better be ready for a rematch.”

Thursday when the Vikings faced the Cougars in a seeding game for the Narrows League Tournament, the Cougars were in prime form in their home gym and bolted to the 3-0 win with 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 games. Liechty again led CK with 10 kills and 12 digs while NK’s Katie Richards smashed 8 kills in the contest.

With the win, Central clinched a spot in the West Central District Tournament. The Cougs will face Wilson at noon today at Mount Tahoma in the semi-finals of the NL tournament.

North will face South Kitsap in a loser-out match at 9:30 a.m. today, also at Mount Tahoma.

“Just the fact that we can play with them (CK), our girls believe now,” French said. “I told them that after the second game (Tuesday) remember how this feels. Know how good you can be.”