ANACORTES — The Anacortes volleyball team had plenty of reasons to be rattled on its home court Thursday night, from the tenacious Sedro-Woolley team on the other side of the net, to the boisterous crowd of fans the Cubs brought with them.
But the Seahawks didn’t get rattled — they just won.
Anacortes bounced back from a first-game loss to overcome the Cubs in a Northwest Conference match, 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-25-18.
“A lot of different girls contributed and kept swinging away and playing hard,” Anacortes coach Ashley Abrams said.
The Seahawks dropped a closely fought first game which was tied seven times, including at 18 points, then won the next three despite close margins in all.
While the game was a home one, Abrams said the Seahawks played well even with the sizable crowd that came out to follow the Cubs.
“Mentally, they did very well with the crowd. They were able to overcome that and proved they could play with a tough atmosphere,” she said.
Sedro-Woolley kept the games competitive with strong serving, dishing out 15 aces, including six by Wendy Ringhouse and five by Ashley Joneli.
Sarah Ringhouse added 12 digs and Laura Lee Seekins had eight kills.
The Cubs were playing without a captain, senior outside hitter Kara Birdsell, who had suffered an ankle injury earlier in the week against Burlington-Edison.
“They played extremely well, especially with the loss of a captain,” Sedro-Woolley coach Doug Pass said. “They played well and stepped it up ... I was impressed and it was exciting.”
Pass said Seekins played especially well for the Cubs, who had to play some players out of position because of injuries.
“They dug up everything. They had great saves and looked like they really wanted it. They were fighting,” Abrams said of the Cubs.
Anacortes improved to 7-2 in conference, and Sedro-Woolley fell to 0-9.
• Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at
