North Kitsap volleyball back on track after bumpy start
There was a point in early September when it appeared North Kitsap's status as the dominant high school volleyball program in West Sound may have been headed for a pause.
First came a pair of season-opening 3-0 defeats against White River and Central Kitsap. Maybe not unexpected results, considering the Vikings graduated four senior starters in the off-season, including Kitsap Sun female athlete of the year Sophia Baugh.
"They were just so much more ready at the beginning of the season than we were," North Kitsap head coach Kaelea Makaiwi said of her team's first two opponents. "We were still trying to figure things out."
Then there was the SunDome Volleyball Festival in Yakima, where North Kitsap finished 1-5 in six matches.
Time to reach for the panic button? Hardly.
"I think it was the best part of the season," senior middle hitter Ireland Burdick said.
"That's where they bonded," added Makaiwi. "That's where they started believing in each other."
The proof is in the results, as the Vikings haven't lost a match since. North Kitsap heads into Thursday's road match at Port Angeles with an 11-0 record in the Olympic League 2A play. The Vikings are on the verge of capturing their 14th league title in the past 15 seasons.
This may not be the most experienced or explosive team North Kitsap's put on the court in recent seasons, but these Vikings have learned how to compete together.
"To me, that chemistry is huge," said Makaiwi after her team defeated Sequim 3-0 at home on Tuesday. The team's lone returning all-league starter from 2022, sophomore Iliana Brockett, had 12 kills and two aces, while Burdick added 11 kills and three aces. The team's only other returning starter from last fall is junior Teegan DeVries.
In its closest match of the season two weeks ago against Bainbridge, it took some belief for the Vikings to prevail after falling behind 2-0. North Kitsap rallied to win 17-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-12.
"They just never quit," Makaiwi said.
Bainbridge currently sits in second place in the league standings with a 9-4 overall record and 9-2 league mark (both losses were to North Kitsap). Sequim (8-4, 8-3) is in third, followed by Kingston (6-7, 6-5), North Mason (6-8, 4-7), Olympic (4-12, 3-8), Port Angeles (3-9, 3-8) and Bremerton (0-11, 0-11).
Volleyball around West Sound this fall
In the Class 4A South Puget Sound League's North Division, South Kitsap (6-8) ranks fourth out of five teams with a 2-5 record. The Wolves snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Sumner on Monday before falling against Bellarmine Prep on Wednesday.
Central Kitsap (6-7) sits sixth in the South Sound Conference 3A with a 3-6 league mark. The Cougars headed into Thursday's road game at Gig Harbor with five regular season games remaining.
In the Nisqually League 1A, Klahowya sits in the middle of the standings with a 7-8 overall/league record after knocking off Seattle Christian on Wednesday. The Eagles finish out the regular season next week with home games against Bremerton on Oct. 23 and Life Christian on Oct. 25.
Crosspoint is 9-5 overall and 8-4 in the Sea-Tac League 1B. The Warriors have won eight of their past nine matches after beginning the season 0-3. The team is scheduled to host Orcas Island in a nonleague tilt on Saturday.
CK's Remnet earns athlete of the week award
Central Kitsap soccer player Rachael Remnet earned this week's Kitsap Sun athlete of the week award in an online poll that drew 2,558 votes. Candidates are nominated by their high school coaches. Vote each Monday on www.kitsapsun.com.
Remnet, a goalkeeper who notched two shutout victories and also scored on a free kick in one of the Cougars' wins, totaled 756 votes. Olympic soccer player Kaylee Cushman had 751 votes, followed by North Kitsap football player Carter Dungy (422 votes), South Kitsap football player Brycen Clay (276 votes), Klahowya tennis player Camden Dickey (147 votes), Bainbridge volleyball player Jameson Payne (125 votes) and North Kitsap volleyball player Adeline La Tour (81 votes).
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: North Kitsap volleyball back on track after bumpy start
