SEQUIM — Port Angeles got off to a fast start in its season opener at the Sequim Jamboree, beating Port Townsend in three straight sets and winning two out of three sets against Sequim.
These are round-robin jamboree matches to open the season, essentially a formal scrimmage, so they don’t count in the team’s win-loss standings, but it was a solid-looking start for a Roughriders team playing its first matches under new head coach Jennifer Reynolds.
Port Angeles first beat Port Townsend 3-0 by the score of 25-18, 25-19, 25-6. They beat Sequim 25-23, 25-15, 28-30.
The Roughriders did not win a game last year in two losses to the Wolves, who finished second in the Olympic League 2A Division to North Kitsap.
The Riders’ Camille Stensgard had 19 assists and served 18 for 21 with six aces combined in the two matches. Emi Halberg had eight assists, eight kills and served 17 for 18 with four aces.
Lily Halberg had seven digs and served 15 for 16 with five aces while Kennedy Bruch had eight digs and three aces. Eden Critchfield added seven kills, while Sam Robbins had five blocks and five kills. Jaida Wood contributed three blocks and five kills.
For Sequim, Kiana Robideau served 16 for 17 with two aces, four kills and 10 digs. Kalli Wiker, the only returning starter from last year, served 8 for 8 with seven digs.
Jessica Asselin served 9 for 10 with three kills and five digs, while Amanda Weller had seven digs and McKenna Hastings had three kills and four digs.
The Wolves split their two matches as they beat Port Townsend 25-9, 25-13, 25-16.
In that match, Robideau served 10 for 11 with three aces and six kills, while Hastings served 6 for 6 for with two aces and two kills.
Asselin served 5 for 5 with four aces, while Kendall Hastings had five kills and Malory Morey served 6 for 6 with an ace.
Sequim coach Jennie Webber-Heilman said this will be a young team. The Wolves graduated eight seniors off last year’s second-place squad.
“We are a very young team and a very small team. We have no seniors,” Webber-Heilman said.
“Our goal is to work hard and get better.”
Webber-Heilman liked that 30-28 win the Wolves got in the third game against Port Angeles, showing a lot of fight after losing the first two games.
Port Townsend coach Kim Matthews said her team generally improved through the game play.
Matthews said the Redhawks are not at full strength yet as they are awaiting players to become eligible. Port Townsend’s Tori Minnihan sprained her knee and will be out for a couple of weeks, Mathews said.
She said seattlers Claudia Garfias and Maya Wickens got the bulk of assists, while Izzy Hammet had seven kills and Minnihan six.
The Wolves get another crack against the Riders on Thursday, this time in a league match that will count in the standings. That match is at 6:15 p.m. Thursday in Port Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Redhawks played Tuesday at Granite Falls, then host Cascade Christian at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.
Port Townsend senior Tori Minnihan (24) looks for a big hit as Sequim freshman Kendall Hastings vies for a block in the opening match of Sequim’s volleyball jamboree on Sept. 9. Sequim swept the Redhawks in three games. The jamboree saw round-robin play between Sequim, Port Angeles and Port Townsend. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
