The Montesano Bulldogs volleyball team appears to be much improved so far this season. Monte was put to the test against a battle-tested King’s Way Christian squad in a Monday matchup at Montesano High School.

PREP VOLLEYBALL

King’s Way Christian 3, Montesano 1

In a match that played more like a playoff game and less like an early-season non-league matchup, the Montesano Bulldogs lost a thrilling back-and-forth contest to the King’s Way Christian Knights 3-1 24-26, 25-23, 25-10, 25-20) on Monday at Montesano High School.

Coming off a successful trip at the SunDome Tournament over the weekend where they went 5-0-1, the Bulldogs opened Monday’s match in thrilling fashion. Highlighted by several key kills from outside hitter Emma Jensen, Montesano (2-1 overall) led a back-and-forth first set 23-18 before the Knights (3-0) climbed back to within a point at 24-23. KWC tied the first set at 24-all, but Monte got a clutch kill down the middle from 6-foot-0 freshman McKynnlie Dalan followed by the Knights putting the ball into the net to take the first set.

In the second game, the two teams tied six times through the first 16 points of the game before Monte pulled ahead 15-9 on a Knights service error. But KWC battled back, to tie the game at 16—16 and took a one-point lead on a block by middle blocker Bridget Young.

The two squads jostled back-and-forth for the next several points before Monte, nursing a 19-17 lead, saw its chances of a two-set lead dwindle as the Knights went on a five-point streak to take a 23-19 lead.

But Monte rallied, getting another kill from Dalan followed by a Knights error to cut the KWC lead to 23-22.

Facing set point, Jensen slammed home a cross-court kill to extend the set, but a Young putback on the following point tied the match at one set apiece.

“We were so aggressive,” Montesano head coach Pat Pace said of the first two sets. “Our big girls were penetrating the net and put some good blocks down and I think we kind of took King’s Way’s guard down that we could actually play the game.”

As good as Monte looked in the first two sets, the Bulldogs were anything but in the third. Prone to mistakes and miscommunication, that was non-existent earlier in the match, Montesano quickly fell behind 10-1 in the pivotal third game and never really recovered in a 25-10 loss.

“I think we had girls opening up and saying, ‘Yours’ instead of ‘Mine’ and not wanting to step up and take charge and (possibly) make a mistake,” Pace said, adding that miscommunication led to mistakes in the third set. “I think there was a little fear there, being ‘I don’t want to be the one that shanks this ball,’ but those are the things that are going to make us better because the girls are going to watch the video and say ‘Oh yeah, that ball is mine,’ and fix it.”

The Bulldogs regained form in the fourth set, keeping close to KWC before tying the game and taking the lead at 14-13 on kills by Jessica Stanfield and Dalan, respectively. But with the score tied at 16-16, KWC outscored Monte 5-2 and went on to win the game 25-20 and the match, 3-1.

“Montesano is extremely tough and it was a really tough fight for us,” Knights head coach Shane Agan said, adding his team ran a different formation after some of his players were ineligible for various reasons. “We just started changing up the tempo of the game, noticing (Monte’s) defense was pushing us deep and we had to take it short. … It’s a great win for us, especially against Montesano because we have a history against Montesano. … (Montesano) is an extremely tough team with some great coaching out here.”

Pace felt his team in in a good position after seeing how competitive it was against KWC, which finished third in the district and competed at the state tournament last season.

“Compared to the recent past, I think we’re doing pretty well right now,” he said. “The girls are moving, they’re excited, they’re attacking the ball. … I thought it was a great atmosphere tonight for us and I thought that was kind of like a playoff game. We just have to learn how to come out on top.”

The Bulldogs host Morton-White Pass at 7 p.m. on Monday.

BOYS PREP GOLF

Aberdeen 239, Rochester 277

Aberdeen got sub-50 scores from Nolan King, Logan Seguin and Evan Waara en route to a 239-277 victory over Rochester on Monday at Grays Harbor Country Club.

Aberdeen (2-0) fought through rapidly-changing weather conditions when a bright, dry course was quickly deluged with rain.

“We started the match in sunny weather. Then played the middle three holes in a downpour. But finished the round in sunshine,” Aberdeen head coach Dan Sundstrom said.

Regardless of the changing weather conditions, Sundstrom said his squad was glad to play in its own backyard.

“It was so nice to play at our home course for the first time this season,” he said. “The course was in great shape and so were our scores.”

King finished with a 9-hole round of 40, the low for the day of either team.

Sequin held the second lowest score of the day with a 44 while Waara tied for the third lowest with a 46 and scored the only birdie of the match when he carded a three on the par-4 2nd hole.

“Nolan continues to play very solid golf. He is consistently hitting fairways and greens,” Sundstrom said. “Logan had his best round of his young career.”

Aberdeen will face Black Hills at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday at Highland Golf Course.

Results (Top 5 Scores)

Aberdeen (239) — Nolan King 40, Logan Seguin 44, Evan Waara 46, Nick Farrer 54, Gavin Timmons 55, Jimmy Boora 57

Rochester (277) — Logan Fry 46, Luke Barth 49, Gabe Masias 57, Zavier Mendez 60, Hayden Williams 65, Brady Moen 80

BOYS PREP TENNIS

Tumwater 4, Aberdeen 2

The Aberdeen doubles team of Colton Faulkner and Eric Eng earned a victory on Monday, but it wasn’t enough as the Bobcats fell to Tumwater 4-2 in a rain-shortened match on Monday at Tumwater High School.

Aberdeen’s top doubles duo, Faulkner and Eng defeated Tumwater’s Zach Schmidt and Clayton Pierpoint 6-3, 6-5 as rain fell during the doubles matches.

“(Faulkner and Eng) had a breakout day on the court,” Aberdeen head coach Andrew Duffy said. “They took a solid Tumwater team down in two sets.”

Aberdeen’s No. 3 doubles team of Romeo Sanchez and Anthony Alexander earned the Bobcats other win on Monday, defeating Tumwater’s Drew Johnson and Mitch Knwolton 6-2, 2-0 in a match shortened due to rain.

The Bobcats will face Black Hills at 3:30 this afternoon at Black Hills High School.

Singles — Ethan Dillon (Tumwater) defeated Brice Kola (Aberdeen) 6-1, 6-0; Noah Tompkins (T) def. Ashdon Swope (A) 6-1, 6-0; Sawyer Loughheed (T) def. Andrew Troeh (A) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles — Eric Eng/Colton Faulkner (A) def. Zach Schmidt/Clayton Pierpoint 6-3, 6-5 (rain out); Peyton Peterson/Gunnar Fields (T) def. Carter Olsen/Colby Miller (A) 6-0, 6-4; Romeo Sanchez/Anthony Alexander (A) def. Drew Johnson/Mitch Knwolton 6-2, 2-0 (rain out)

GIRLS PREP SOCCER

Ilwaco 3, Raymond-South Bend 1

The Raymond-South Bend Riptide lost to Ilwaco 3-1 on Monday at Ilwaco High School.

No further information was provided at the time of this writing.

Raymond-South Bend (1-2) plays Castle Rock at 7 tonight at Castle Rock High School.

Montesano’s Emma Jensen, right, slams home a kill between two King’s Way Christian defenders during the Bulldogs’ 3-1 loss to the Knights on Monday at Montesano High School. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)