Although the faces of their opponents may have changed, to the players on the Mercer Island volleyball team, the rivalry was still the same.
That was the mentality Mercer Island brought to its match with Bellevue Thursday night. And the Islanders certainly performed like a team with something to prove, beating the Wolverines 25-12, 25-6, 25-16 at MIHS.
Though the players that make up this year’s Bellevue team are a much younger squad than the team that claimed the 3A/2A KingCo league crown last season, some of that sting from losing a trophy the Islanders believed was theirs still remained with the Islander players.
“We definitely had something to prove, just to show that last year was a bluff and that’s not who we are,” said Jemma Yeadon, who led the Islanders with 21 kills. “We came out and we showed them.”
Mercer Island (4-0, 2-0) had the Wolverines playing from behind for much of the match, and used two big runs to close the first set. Leading 14-11 with Bellevue stepping up to serve, the Islanders reeled off five straight points to pull away, ultimately closing out the set with an 11-1 run to win 25-12.
The second set saw the Islanders hold the Wolverines (2-2, 1-2) to half of their point total from the first game, running away for a 25-6 win. Mercer Island coach Susan Rindlaub said staying aggressive in the second set was a point of focus for her team heading into Thursday’s match.
“I feel like sometimes this season, the second game has been where we let down, and we were pretty incredible in this match in the second game,” Rindlaub said.
Bellevue stepped up its attack in the third set, taking the lead on four occasions. But the Islanders never trailed by more than a point, and wouldn’t allow the Wolverines to replicate any of the runs that the Islanders used to pull away from Bellevue throughout the night.
With Bellevue leading 11-10, Mercer Island would close the match with a 15-5 run to win 25-16.
“There were some pretty incredible rallies and pretty incredible plays where the girls could’ve just let the ball drop and they went for it,” Rindlaub said. “I was proud of them. They accomplished what they were supposed to do.”
Kelly Behrbaum contributed seven kills and two aces for Mercer Island. Tess Hendelman posted 22 digs and an ace, Helena Shield had four blocks, and Natalie Robinson tallied 42 assists, five kills, 12 digs and an ace.
With a raucous crowd in attendance cheering on both sides, the environment was definitely befitting of a rivalry game.
“We always play really well against Bellevue, they’re our school rivals,” Yeadon said. “We get a big crowd like that, that was the most fans we’ve had [this season]. It’s exciting.”
