POULSBO — A raucous crowd in the North Kitsap High School gymnasium received the end result they were clamoring for Tuesday night. The North Kitsap Vikings volleyball team made short work of the Olympic Trojans, sweeping its opponents from Bremerton 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-22) for its first victory of the season.
Even though the Vikings powered past the Trojans, the match was much closer than the score indicated. North rallied from a 13-6 deficit in the third set, outscoring Olympic 19-9 earning a come-from-behind victory.
“It was a little too close in the end,” said senior outside hitter Jessica Ouellet. “I knew we were going to come back. I felt pretty confident about it.”
The Vikings’ impressive win in the third set was similar to the way they started the match during the first set of play. North surged out to a 10-1 lead in the first set, taking the wind out of Olympic’s sails. Ouellet put forth a dominating performance during that stretch, serving successfully eight consecutive times while compiling three aces.
“It was very key,” Vikings coach Tim French said of the quick start. “Volleyball is a game of momentum, and our fast start was a huge boost. I attribute a lot of that to our fans tonight. They were into it and it made a difference.”
French spoke highly of Ouellet’s performance. She finished with a team-high seven kills.
“Jessica had an all around solid effort. She’s powerful and hit the ball hard all night,” he said. “Her game is well-rounded and she’s a leader.”
French said he was impressed by the way his team rebounded after committing several unforced errors in the third set. North missed on a half dozen serves during that set of play.
“About halfway through the set, we missed some serves that broke our momentum,” he said. “Towards the end we were able to clean it up and improve our passing. We played our game instead of their game.”
French said his team responded to the challenge that Olympic created in the final set.
“I’m proud of all the girls. They fought back through some adversity tonight,” he said. “We still have a lot of things we need to work on, but this is a good start.”
Setter Amy Cox tallied a team 29 assists and four aces for North. Senior Sara Jo Barrett chipped in three aces from the serving line as well.
The Vikings host Mount Tahoma in a Narrows League volleyball match at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the North Kitsap High School gymnasium.
