Curtis volleyball tops Emerald Ridge in five sets

Curtis High School’s volleyball team was waiting for this night.

A year after finishing second to Emerald Ridge in the Class 4A South Puget Sound League’s South Division, the Vikings were after redemption. They got it with a 25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-11 win against the Jaguars on Tuesday night in their home opener.

“We definitely wanted to come out strong and show them we were going to put up a fight against them this year,” said senior outside hitter Camryn Buell, who led the Vikings with 19 kills and 25 digs.

Both teams’ early-season jitters showed as they traded leads in the first set. The Jaguars (2-1, 1-1 league) tallied four consecutive points before the Vikings (2-1, 2-0) triumphed with the final two.

Emerald Ridge coach Bobby McGivern said there were too many errors on both sides.

“That’s not our play,” he said. “It’s still early in the season and I know we can work on a few things and get better, but I know it’s going to be a tougher match next time.”

Curtis coach Michael Miller felt similarly.

“I think who’s probably going to end up on top in the SPSL South is the next time we meet, the team that makes the fewer mistakes and takes opportunity,” he said.

In the second set, Emerald Ridge capitalized on Curtis’ mistakes, including back-to-back serves that went out of bounds to break a 9-9 score, seize control and at one point lead by seven.

But the Vikings weren’t going away as they grabbed a 4-3 lead in the third set and never relinquished it. Curtis scored seven unanswered points to make it 20-11, and let the Jaguars put just three on the board before finishing it off with five in a row.

“In the third set, we came alive offensively … and blew the doors off them,” Miller said. “That’s how we want to play every set, and if we can get that, I think we can be a state-contender team.”

Emerald Ridge scored quickly to open the fourth set and never trailed, but was unable to keep the momentum going in the final set as Curtis stacked up seven consecutive points to pull away for good.

“It was really intense,” said Curtis sophomore libero Kasey Woodruff, who finished with 18 digs. “There was a lot of rallies, and I’m just glad we pulled it out.”

McGivern said his team “lost a lot of firepower” with the graduation of a quartet of seniors that took the Jaguars to the 2014 state championship match.

“We’re just trying to find our identity right now,” he said.

Emerald Ridge sophomore setter Jadyn Mullen tallied 45 assists and 13 digs, while senior outside hitter Makenna Smith had a game-high 20 kills and 15 digs.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Curtis volleyball tops Emerald Ridge in five sets."