Last modified: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 1:49 PM PDT Fruitland overcomes two game deficit for win By Ray Rodriguez - Argus Observer Fruitland - Hard kills, sensational serves and furious rallies graced the hardwood in another non-league volleyball classic Tuesday in Fruitland. Vale and Fruitland battled through five hard-fought games with the Grizzlies overcoming an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Vale 3-2. “Vale just has the most amazing program,” Fruitland head coach Lisa O’Neil said. “They always put together a great team. It’s always a thrill when you beat them. That was great volleyball.” In the decisive fifth game, the Grizzlies had the momentum and jumped out to an early 4-1 lead against the Vikings. Fruitland’s Bailie Olson was at the service line and the lefty was in cruise control helping her squad jump out to a commanding 10-1 lead. The Vikings weren’t done as Katy Lutjens went to the service line and Vale erased what seemed to be an insurmountable uphill battle. The Vikings closed the gap to 11-6 and Fruitland score the next two points to take a 13-6 lead. Vale just would not go away as they crept to within 13-9 and 14-11 with Lindsey Sharp at the service line. But all hope quickly vanished as Sharp’s serve went long and the Grizzlies celebrated an emotional comeback at center court, while Vale could only think of what could have been. The Vikings won the opener 25-22, and came back from an early deficit to do so. Fruitland held an 8-4 lead and standout Kylee Nawahine, using her tough jump serve, landed three straight aces to give the Grizzlies an 11-4 cushion. Fruitland led by as much as 19-15, before Vale scratched and clawed its way back to a 20-20 tie. Sharp served the last four points and Ashley Morcom slammed down a kill to give the Vikings the 1-0 lead. Nawahine and the Grizzlies kept the pressure on in the second game, as the junior standout served her team to seven straight points and a 13-5 cushion. Vale kept chipping away and used a kill block by Lutjens to break even at 21. The teams battled back and forth before the Vikings were able to skip away with the slim 25-23 win. Vale was up 2-0 and looked to be in complete control. But the Grizzlies answered back in style, breaking open a close 8-6 lead to take a 22-9 lead in the final stretches of the third. Fruitland changed up the game plan a little and it worked to perfection. “We changed our serves,” O’Neil said. “We we’re serving right to them in the first two games. We mixed up our serves and that put them a little bit more on the defensive. In the first couple of games we were serving it too easy.” Melissa Pennecard was at the service line and the Grizzlies scored the next two points to creep to within 2-1 with a 25-10 win. In the fourth game, Vale used some solid serves by Heather Barras and jumped out to an 7-1 lead. Lutjens then followed up her teammate with five straight service points and Vale was way out in front at 12-5. Fruitland chipped away with four straight points to get within 14-10 and regained the lead at 16-15. The game went back and forth, with rallies and solid play, with the Vikings taking a late 20-18 lead. The Grizzlies then went on a 7-1 run to win the fourth game 25-21 and even the match at 2. Nawahine led the way for Fruitland with 13 kills, 13 assists and seven service aces and teammate Bailie Olson added 16 digs and nine kills. For Vale, Lutjens led the way with 10 kills and five blocks, Tracy Birdsong added 11 assists and Sam Kamo chipped in 28 digs. “These are the kind of matches you want to have in non-league,” Vale’s Hall of Fame head coach Mary Ann Standage said. “It doesn’t matter who wins them. Sure we would like to win all of them and that type of thing. It’s just so much better than practice. You can’t beat this for league preparation.” Vale (2-3 overall) kicks off league play at home against Nyssa, while Fruitland (5-0 overall, 2-0 SRV) travels to McCall Thursday.