Nighthawks down Wildcats in four sets

OAKESDALE - The Oakesdale Nighthawks (17-2, 8-0 Districts) had a home match Saturday, Oct. 7, against the Wilbur-Creston-Keller (WCK) Wildcats.

The match was played in Oakesdale and lasted four sets.

The two teams met last season in the opening round of the 1B district playoffs, where the Nighthawks won the match in straight sets.

This time around, the match went longer than last season, with the Wildcats taking one set off the Nighthawks.

In the first set, Oakesdale came out with an 8-4 lead early before WCK took a timeout. Payton Davis had a strong service run in the set to help with the lead.

WCK would take their second timeout in the half when the Nighthawks were up 19-7. Oakesdale went on to win the set 25-8.

The second set saw Oakesdale use a different lineup combination compared to the first set. The lineup took some getting used to, and WCK took advantage. The Wildcats fell behind after being tied at 15. They trailed 21-18 before losing the second set 25-20, evening the set score at 1-1.

In the third set, the Nighthawks came back to life, and took the set quickly, winning 25-14.

The fourth set was closer for WCK. The set was tied at 12 before the Nighthakws scored two quick points to lead by two.

After the mini run from Oakesdale, they then led 19-17, before finishing strong, and taking the fourth set 25-21, winning the match 3-1.

In the match, Davis led the way with five aces and 32 kills. She also had two blocks in the match.

Setter Samantha Holling had 55 assists in the match, and Brieyn Henley had 10 digs for Oakesdale.