The North Kitsap volleyball squad started a weeklong gauntlet of matches with a home opener against White River Sept. 6. The Hornets are a top-tier 2A school and took advantage of the Vikings lack of experience and younger talent.

“That group of seniors last year played club at a young age and were fierce competitors,” NK coach Kaelea Makaiwi said. “We are finding that fierce leadership right now.”

The Vikings have three seniors on a roster that consists of 10 varsity players and three swing players from JV. White River handled NK in three sets, 25-9, 26-24 and 25-13.

Mak said the first thing the Vikings need to work on is their “energy. It doesn’t matter if we are winning or losing. Our second and third set, even when we were behind, they were talking to each other and kept working. Once we got behind by five or six it went quiet.”

Even though the Vikings were scrambling some of their returning players showcased their skills. Iliana Brockett showed off a rocket arm with handful of kills from the outside, Teegan Devries showed her ability to keep rallies alive on defense, and Adeline La Tour displayed her ability to block kill attempts in the middle.

“They played through some tough stuff,” Mak said. “I put a lot of different people in different spots, and they handled it very well.”

The Vikings return to the court Sept. 7 at Central Kitsap and Sept. 9-10 against teams in Yakima.

“We will see what these guys are made of,” Mak said. “It’s brutal, but it gives a good measurement for now and what we need to improve on.”

NK’s Silvia Okunami smashes the ball past Hornet defenders.

Teegan Devries serves the ball to White River.