The battle between North Kitsap and Bainbridge for supremacy in the Olympic League would come down to resiliency, one of the three values Spartan volleyball coach Holly Rohrbacher regularly sees.

Trust and gratitude may round out that list, but a fourth may have been worth noting in the Spartans 3-1 win (25-27, 25-16, 25-20, 25-21) over the Vikings in Poulsbo Oct. 3—electricity.

“We’ve been talking about why we liked moving down to 2A and the Olympic League. This (match) is why,” Rohrbacher said. “They knew it was going to be a big stage tonight, and they were able to fight back and show up for each other.”

NK would come out swinging to the delight of Viking coach Kaelea Makaiwi, players feeding off a packed home court and taking advantage of early Bainbridge mistakes in the serving game to take a hard-fought first set. The Spartans would make their own noise in the second set, a six-point run helping them knot the match up, though it took four set points to clinch it. “I felt like we competed well in all of the sets except one, that second set,” Makaiwi said. “And even then, I felt like we could dig ourselves out and just drive.”

Dig after dig of the attacks from Bainbridge’s heavy hitter and touch after touch at the net continue to validate NK’s identity as a top team in the league. Yet Makaiwi had to admit that Spartan senior Holley McFadden, a main contributor to Bainbridge’s win, is a standout player.

“Holley was just fire, fire in sets three and four,” she said. “No matter what we threw at her, she would just find a way. I just had to have that talk with my players that she is that kind of competitor.”

Rohrbacher ended the night celebrating her team’s ability to shake off that first-set loss, finding a rhythm in the second and continuing to hold fast in the final two sets. “I think after the first set, it was getting into the tough moments where we needed a kill and continued to play altogether to the end.”

Meanwhile, Makaiwi hopes her team will continue to work and prepare even more for their next clash with the Spartans later this season in Bainbridge. “It’s us just staying a little bit more disciplined and sticking to our plan the next time around. There’s another couple things I’ll throw at them to see how they handle it, but I hope we come back around,” she said.

NK senior Teegan DeVries goes up for a two-handed attack at the net.