Volleyball: Cougars Lose in Five Sets

Though they forced a fifth set in their match against West Springfield, the Oakton High volleyball team fell short of a win Thursday night.

The 3-2 loss put the Cougars' record at 7-2 heading into a weekend tournament at Washington-Lee.

The Cougars won the first set 25-19, but dropped the second set with a close 25-23 final score. They started the second set up a point, but the Spartans scored a quick four points to grab the lead. Though the Cougars would tie the Spartans several times throughout the set, they never found a way to retake the lead.

Their struggles continued in the third set with a 25-17 loss, but they turned things around in the fourth set with a dominant 25-11 win to force a fifth set. 

The fifth set remained close throughout, with neither team leading by more than two points. With the game tied 13-13, Olson scored a point for the Cougars and the Spartans called a timeout. On match point, the Spartans tied the game when the Cougars hit the ball out of bounds. The teams then went back-and-forth tying and retaking the lead, putting the game in a total of seven match point situations until the Spartans won the set 21-19. 

The Cougars' struggles throughout the match — oftentimes confusion over who should take control of the ball, which allowed the ball to drop — put a spotlight on a critical weakness, Courain said: improvisational play.

"If the ball is coming to us and we know it's coming, we execute very well. When the play is broken and everyone is looking around, or looking to Emma [Olson] as our setter to reset everything, no one is really ready for that random play," Courain said. "It's on the coaches a little bit. In practice, we keep things a little bit controlled and in system. But we have to be ready for everything, and we aren't yet."

Olson, a senior co-captain, led the team with 33 assists, nine kills, three aces and two blocks. Misa Mori, a senior outside hitter, had 11 kills, 15 digs and three aces, while Mori's fellow outside hitter, senior co-captain Abby Mills, tallied 12 kills.

The Cougars went 3-2 in a tournament at Washington-Lee High this weekend, and continue their season at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Edison.  

Other stats:

Bri Goodwin: 6 kills, .417 hitting%
Tara Wilkins: 5 kills, .444 hitting%
Christina Williams Jr.: 14 digs

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