SJEL Eagles take down Colton Wildcats in four sets

COLTON – St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse volleyball responded from being down 10-7 to win the first set enroute to a 3-1 win over Colton on Oct. 13.

After the Wildcats went on the 10-7 run in the first set against the Eagles, St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse stormed back with an 18-5 run to take the first set and get the momentum heading into the second.

Runs of points continued for the Eagles in the second set – holding a narrow lead at 9-7 before going on a 16-6 run to take the second set 25-13.

Colton decided to take its own turn at going on a run in the third set – going 14-4 after being down 18-11 to steal a set against the Eagles.

St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse was still able to take the overall win, getting the 25-8 victory in the fourth set.

"Tonight was a tough night for us," Colton coach Jill Nelson said. "We were down a Libero, but it was really fun to see the girls really just go after it and get some good touches. We were more aggressive at the net tonight, so I think that made a big difference to our play, too. So overall I'm very proud of them and what they did tonight."

The victory against the Wildcats improves the Eagles' record to 11-7-1 on the season and 5-2 in league play – putting the team in second place in the 1B Southeast-East division behind defending 1B state champions Oakesdale Nighthawks.

"We just redid our entire lineup on defense," SJEL coach Jenn Johnson said. "So that was the first time putting it all together. So just teamwork and communication, the discipline to comeback and win that fourth (set) with the way that they did it."

With the injuries and the different lineups that both teams rolled out in the match, the Wildcats and St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse saw an opportunity for both sportsmanship and reps for their players, with both players putting out their underclassmen and bench players for a fifth set that didn't count towards the overall score.

The set was played to 15 and was won by Colton.

If the injuries persist into this week for both the teams, those reps might prove to be invaluable.

St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse faced the Oakesdale Nighthawks at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18 in Oakesdale and Colton took on Garfield-Palouse at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18 in Colton.

Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]