Tomahawk girls sweep Oak Harbor

MARYSVILLE — The Tomahawks were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted to Oak Harbor Oct. 20 in three games.

The sweep (25-13, 25-9, 25-11) was just another step toward Wesco Conference perfection for Marysville-Pilchuck (8-3 overall, 5-0 Wesco), and seventh consecutive match won.

"Our goal all along has been to play at our level, and I think we did that — to a point," said Marysville coach Shelly Johnson. "We made a few errors but, for the most part, it was a good match."

The Tomahawks separated themselves from the Wildcats in the first game with the score tied at 7-7. From that point, Johnson's girls outscored Oak Harbor 18-6, fueled by Alisha Oden's eight consecutive serving points, on their way to a 25-13 win.

"I thought we did a great job serving and hitting," Johnson said. "Our front line blocked pretty well too, and Alisha's serve was really falling."

But Oden wasn't the only one with effective serving, as junior Riley Taitingfong was 20-for-20 from the end line, along with recording 27 assists.

"I thought Riley did a good job setting things up and moving the offense around to get our everyone involved and keeping them guessing," Johnson said.

The second game played out the same as the first, except M-P jumped out to a 9-2 lead, which stemmed from the hitting and blocking of Mikayla LaRosa and Oden, as well as the serving of Katie Peterson. The junior libero served eight points early on and was 19-for-19 to go along with her 20 digs. The Tomahawks won 25-9.

Johnson mixed in a few different players to the lineup in game 3 for the same result. Junior blocker Samantha Minning and sophomore Alexis Fitzmaurice showed scoring and defensive potential by outclassing the Wilcats 25-11 to end the match.

Johnson said that this was an important win, and although they are not looking past their Oct. 22 and 26 matches against Cascade and Snohomish, they will be preparing for the season finale against 5-0 Monroe Oct. 28. The match most likely will determine who wins the conference title and Johnson will be looking for redemption, as the Tomahawks have lost the conference title to the Bearcats four straight years.

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Contact Marysville Globe Sports Reporter Travis Sherer at tsherer@marysvilleglobe.com or 360 659-1300 Ext. 5054.

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