SHORTHANDED FISHERMEN BATTLE PAST GULLS

Any good team knows, you are usually only one injury away from being average.


The Astoria Lady Fishermen came into Thursday night's home matchup against rival Seaside as heavy favorites and won the match in three games, but battled every step of the way in a 27-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory.


Seaside had late leads in each game of the match, but could not close out against the experienced Fishermen in front of a partisan crowd at the Brick House.


"They stepped it up towards the end," said Seaside's second-year head coach Mitch Ward. "We had some key errors at the wrong times and had bad streaks when we were up and let them back in the game. We could have had all three of those games and it could have been the other way around fairly easily, I think."


Astoria played without all-Cowapa League outside hitter Kristen Saulsbury, who has been plagued by chronic knee pain dating back to the summer. Saulsbury played in Astoria's first two matches on Friday, but was severely hampered in practice Wednesday and was held out of the match for precautionary reasons.


Missing their strongest outside hitter, Astoria looked to other combinations and struggled at times, but was able to come from behind in each game to earn the sweep.


"We made it really interesting," said Astoria head coach Angee Hunt. "Seaside came to play. We need to realize that every team is going to want a piece of us this year and if we don't come ready to play it could be us on the other side."


The Gulls played very well defensively and put a strong double block at the net, while rotating two different setters into the game throughout the match, mirroring Astoria's early season look.


"We knew that the freshman last year who was the J.V. setter [Sarah LaCoste] was going to come up and play varsity this year," said Ward. "I knew we were going to do that because developing someone for the future, we kind of need that. She did a great job tonight."


The Gulls only graduated two seniors from last year's team, including 6-foot middle blocker Becca Weaver, who missed most of the season with a knee injury. Last year's setter McKenzie Bauske has moved to right side hitter with LaCoste sharing setsswith senior Ashley Stinnett. Senior Mollie Schmidt, who did not play last year, provided Seaside's most consistent attack from the outside while juniors Abbie Huddleston, Megan Potter and senior Shelby Siebert give Seaside a trio of tall players up front to establish a strong block.


Another pair of juniors, Ellie Wiese and Jamie Osburn return on the outside with experience and junior Ashley Nice was all over the floor, selling out her body to dig up balls from her libero slot.


"We've got pretty much everybody returning," said Ward. "Heather Cleary (senior defensive specialist) in the back row and Ashley Nice, our libero, is doing a great job. It's really nice having her back there."


"We're really excited. We've got three or four people in every position we can put in any given time. It's kind of nice to have."


Schmidt put away a kill to put Seaside up 25-24 in game one, but a service error returned the side out to Astoria and sophomore setter Kayce Lilley served up two of her patented high arcing short serves to earn Astoria's final two points.


Service errors late in games two and three were also costly for Seaside, which led Astoria 23-22 in game two and 22-20 in game three before faltering.


DeWitt served Astoria back into game two with back-to-back aces as the Lady Fishermen came from 13-8 down to tie the score at 16-16. With junior libero Ashley Nice serving, Seaside sandwiched a double-block by Abbie Huddleston and McKenzie Bauske between two aces to jump back in front 21-18. Two DeWitt kills and an errant Seaside shot accounted for Astoria's final three points and a 25-23 edge in game two.


In game three, Astoria had a rare lead in the early going before a string of four consecutive hitting errors allowed the Gulls to pull in front 15-12. The Gulls would extend to a 17-13 edge before a momentum-killing service error. Two more errors down the stretch with a slim lead kept Astoria poised for their third late comeback and back-to-back kills by Meredith Barnes put Astoria up 23-22. After Ellie Wiese tied the match with a kill, back-to-back hitting errors gave Astoria the match point serve and the win.


DeWitt led the way for Astoria with 12 kills and a block, while Barnes added eight kills and a block. Sara Cullen contributed 19 assists and Lilley led Astoria at the service line with a perfect 18-for-18 performance and an ace.


Schmidt's six kills led a balanced Seaside attack. Huddleston was involved in four double-blocks for the Gulls, who were playing their season opener.


Astoria, now 2-1, continues to find an opportunity for all of the girls on its bench to contribute early in the season. The Lady Fishermen will need all of their resources this Saturday as they step up in classification to play in a tournament at Southridge High School in Beaverton.


"We are still learning the ropes and getting the chemistry," said Hunt. "With 12 [players], there are a lot of combinations, but the mental toughness is the thing we've got to look at now."


Seaside is off until Tuesday when the Gulls play their home opener against Tillamook, which defeated Banks 25-11, 25-13, 27-25 Thursday night.