The success of the Mercer Island volleyball team has been a surprise to some. Its undefeated record in eight matches, including a 3-0 win against Sammamish on Wednesday, was not necessarily expected after losing four key starters from the 2007 roster. One of those players who moved on was the team’s starting setter for three seasons. This year, sophomore Ariel Dewey has stepped into the position and the team has not lost a step.

“Amanda [Nield] was a great setter,” said Dewey. “But the girls on the team have made the transition easier.”

Setter is a lot like the point guard on a basketball team, leading plays and needing to know the strengths and weaknesses of teammates.

“I have to make it easy for girls to hit, help everyone succeed and have fun with it,” said Dewey. “It is a lot more competitive on varsity. It gets a lot more intense, but you learn more.”

The team completed the 2007 regular season without a loss and is on track to do the same this season. The win against Sammamish gave all the Islanders a chance to work on aspects of their game in a competitive match-play situation.

“We were running our X’s and working on harder serves,” said Mercer Island senior captain Janelle Chow. “But we still have the mentality that every team we play is Mount Si.”

Mount Si is the team’s chief rival in KingCo this season, and the two teams will meet for the second and final time in regular-season play on Oct. 13. But as Chow stated, Mercer Island played the Totems like they were the Wildcats.

The Islanders began the match with Sammamish with powerful spikes and just two unforced errors during the first game. The Islanders opened up a 7-2 lead thanks in part to the play of Shayda Sanii, who collected four kills. Sammamish kept pace, keeping the score from getting out of hand at 11-6. But Chow broke the game open with a powerful spike, off a set by Dewey, which went through a block attempt by the Totems. The play set off an 11-0 run by the Islanders, which was capped by Sanii’s gentle set over the top of a Sammamish block attempt. Chow put the game away with a tip kill, an ace and two more serves that the Totems could not return for the dominating 25-8 victory.

Sammamish tried to regroup during the second game and did a better job of keeping pace with the Islanders. Despite nearly doubling their point total from the first game, the Totems went down 25-15.

Mercer Island would cap the match with a third game victory, 25-10, despite eight unforced errors. Islander Lindsay Chinn put the match away by scoring four of the final six Mercer Island points on aces.

The Islanders traveled to Interlake on Monday (after Reporter deadline) to take on the Saints. The team will travel to new league rival Juanita High School on Friday with a special start time at 5:15 p.m. to allow students to see their respective football teams play.