This one can be remembered as “the one that got away” — in Friday Harbor, that is.

With two games in the bag and just one more to go, a scrappy but inexperienced Friday Harbor volleyball team failed to land the knockout punch in their league opener at home, Tuesday, against Orcas.

They dropped the last three games of a best-of-five contest and then watched helplessly as the Vikings marched out of Turnbull Gym with a plucky come-from-behind league win in tow.

“We started off good,” Friday Harbor co-captain Lizzy Starr said. “I guess we started over-thinking it and just got all scrambled up on the court. It’s frustrating.”

With the loss, the Wolverines fell to 0-1 in Northwest 1A/2B League play, and 0-3 overall.

The Wolverines were first across the finish line in the first two games, but just by a nose. They tallied a 25-21 victory in the opening game and took the second at 25-22.

But the Vikings proved resilient.

They jumped out to an early 4-point lead in Game 3 and, with senior Kathryn Tidwell fueling the offense, snagged seven of the final 11 points to seal a 25-18 victory. In Game 4, the Vikiings fell behind for the first time at 22-21, but rebounded to take the next four points and the game, with junior Freeda Crow delivering the game-winner, and to even the match at two games apiece.

With the match on the line, Orcas again grabbed an early lead in the deciding fifth and final game — first to 15, win by two.

The Wolverines clawed their way out of a hole and then into a 14-14 tie. But the Vikings outlasted the home team over the next two hotly contested points to clinch the match with a 16-14 win in the finale.

Next

Friday Harbor squares off on the road, Thursday, against league rival La Connner; game time is 4 p.m., and then travel to Meridian, Saturday, and Monday to Mount Vernon Christian. They host Darrington Oct. 6, beginning at 4:45 p.m. in Turnbull Gym.

— Scott Rasmussen