Nighthawks end regular season unbeaten

OAKESDALE — The Oakesdale Nighthawks are ranked No. 1 in the state as they finished the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record.

The season concluded with a five-set brawl against the Garfield-Palouse (Gar-Pal) Vikings for Oakesdale’s Senior Night on Thursday, Oct. 24. The Nighthawks won the match, 3-2, with set scores of 23-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18, 15-8.

“It feels good, we really worked for it this year,” said Oakesdale coach McKinzie Turner. “Gar-Pal, hats off to them, they played well tonight.”

The match began with a kill by Gar-Pal’s Elena Flansburg, assisted by Kaylee Kimble. The Vikings controlled the court early and kills by Clare Bowechop and Hailey Beckner helped them take an 11-3 lead.

After using both timeouts for the set, the Nighthawks answered with kills by Parker Davis and Bradyn Henley, while adding aces by Henley and Addy Lisenbee. After an ace by Davis, the score became tied, 15-15.

The teams traded kills back-and-forth for the remainder of the match until the score was tied at 23-23. Gar-Pal got the next two points on a double-touch rule and an out-of-bounds ball, giving the Vikings the 25-23 set one win and leading the match, 1-0.

Set two began with kills by Davis, Henley and Grace Perry for Oakesdale, but the Vikings kept the score within a few points. A pair of aces by Lyla Kjack gave Oakesdale an 8-3 lead, forcing Gar-Pal to call a timeout.

The Nighthawks extended their lead to 14-9 before the Vikings the next five points in a row on kills by Morgan Lentz, along with a kill and two aces by Bowechop, tying the match, 14-14.

Oakesdale answered with scoring the next six points of its own on three kills by Henley, all assisted by Megan Crider. The Nighthawks steadily increased its lead and won set two, 25-19, with the final point coming from an ace by Lisenbee, tying the match, 1-1.

“The best part of our game was serving,” Turner said. “That’s the best we’ve served in a while.”

Oakesdale came out on fire to begin set three, taking a 7-3 lead on kills by Perry and Henley. Oakesdale extended its lead to 12-7, but the Vikings fired back, tying the set 13-13. Neither team gained more than a two-point advantage until the set was tied, 22-22.

Gar-Pal got the next three points on two kills by Kyra Brantner, took set three, 25-22, and led the match, 2-1.

The set loss didn’t seem to faze the Nighthawks as they started set four with a 6-0 advantage on block kills by Perry and Crider.

“We just knew that our backs were against the wall and we had to come out and make-or-break,” Turner said. “You’ve got to fight-or-flight and they chose to fight.”

The Vikings brought themselves back from the brink and tied the set, 7-7 on kills by Bowechop and Beckner. Oakesdale slowly increased its lead from there and a tip kill by Henley, assisted by Davis, gave the 25-18 set win for the Nighthawks, tying the match at 2-2.

“After that third set we struggled a bit on our attacking, but mentally we pushed through it,” Turner said. “Kudos goes to the girls because they really push through some of those hurdles that a lot of teams don’t.”

Set five was a battle up front with Henley getting three block kills, helping the Nighthawks take a 7-2 lead. The Vikings brought the score to within three points at 11-8. Oakesdale scored the next four points and the match ended with a Crider set and Davis kill, giving the Nighthawks a 15-8 set victory and winning the match, 3-2.

Crider led the Nighthawks with 44 assists and four aces. Henley added 23 kills and Perry had five blocks in the match. Kjack had a team-high 17 digs on the night.

The Nighthawks opened Southeast 1B tournament play with a home match against Liberty Christian at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 28, after press time.

“We just have to do what we do,” Turner said. “We have to play Nighthawk volleyball and just keep getting reps, keep getting better and take every opportunity that we have to get better.”